Houthis blow up Taizz's last supply road in possible war crime, HRW finds

Human Rights Watch has documented a Houthi attack on the Hayjat al-Abd road into Yemen's besieged city of Taizz, warning the destruction of the route — the main entry point for food, medicine and fuel — may constitute a war crime.

At around 4:00 a.m. on 18 October, Houthi forces detonated explosives on the road in the town of al-Turba, approximately 75 kilometres south of Taizz city, significantly damaging a portion of it.

HRW researcher Niku Jafarnia said cutting access along the route for a prolonged period could place residents at even greater risk to their lives and well-being, given the severe shortages of food, water, medicine and fuel already facing the population.

The organisation spoke with eight informed sources in October about two attacks on the road and their aftermath, and analysed satellite imagery alongside verified photographs and video. HRW wrote to the Houthis on 21 October but received no response.

Taizz has been under Houthi siege since 2015, with the city remaining under Yemeni government control while the Houthis have cut vital roads connecting it to the rest of the country, including the port city of Aden. Under the laws of war, deliberate destruction of infrastructure indispensable to civilian survival — if intended as such — violates those laws.