Houthis encircle new target in conflict with Saudi-backed forces

Iran-backed rebels surround Taiz, one of Yemen's largest cities, as conflict with Riyadh and its local allies escalates

Houthi rebels are closing in on another strategic prize in Yemen as the war between the Iran-backed group and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition escalates.

The rebels, who launched a lightning offensive down the Red Sea coast from their northern Yemeni stronghold last month, have in recent days encircled the south-western city of Taiz, which connects the coast with the rest of southern Yemen and could open a pathway to advance on Aden, the seat of the internationally recognised government.

All major entrances to Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city, have become front lines after the Houthis made major advances along the main roads. Only a few cars and cargo trucks are able to enter by navigating fierce battle zones to the south of the city, according to residents.

The fighting arrived so quickly that residents had no chance to escape to safer areas, they said, adding that they were running short of food, medicine and fuel as prices soared.

"It is risky to flee now because we would have to cross active front lines," Shehab, a driver in his fifties, said. "But if it were safe, I would prefer to leave rather than stay here under these dire conditions, waiting for battles to hit the city at any moment."

Shehab -- who the FT is identifying only by his first name to protect his identity -- said he is now out of work because fuel prices have more than doubled and passengers can no longer afford transportation fares. "Fuel trucks can't reach the city because of fighting along the main access roads, so black-market fuel prices have tripled," he said.

Yemen's long-running civil war reignited in July after the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia, which intervened in 2015 to lead a coalition against the rebels and restore the internationally recognised government before a fragile 2022 truce.

But after the ceasefire collapsed over the summer, the Houthis started moving south, seizing the port city of Mokha and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait from government-aligned factions while bombarding Saudi energy facilities and airports to the north, dealing a series of severe blows to the kingdom.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government this month launched an operation to recapture Houthi-controlled territory. But while its forces have made some gains in the areas around Bab al-Mandeb and Mokha, analysts say the Houthis continue to hold key positions.

On Thursday the rebels fired missiles at the Yemeni presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden, killing and injuring several guards, according to Saba state news agency. It was the first attack on al-Maashiq Palace, the seat of Yemen's government, since the conflict restarted.

Taiz has long been a Houthi target, with the rebels having previously blockaded the city in 2015. Adam Baron, a fellow with the Future Security Program at the New America think-tank, said taking control of Taiz carried both symbolic and strategic weight.

"Taiz has always been a real hotbed of anti-Houthi resistance, and it is the hometown of the president [Rashad al-Alimi]," he said. "If things are going to escalate, seizing control of Taiz and making sure it is not going to be a thorn in their back would be quite significant."

The failure of government forces to push back against Houthi advances means that the group also now controls large swaths of the countryside around Taiz, which had provided a refuge for residents during the 2015 siege.

But this time, many from the countryside have moved into the city, exacerbating the already difficult humanitarian situation. Taiz has become host to the largest number of internally displaced people since the beginning of the crisis, according to the UN World Food Programme, which said it cannot access more than 600,000 people who depend on humanitarian assistance.

Salwa, a teacher from Taiz, said she remains traumatised by the experience of living through the previous siege. She recalls being trapped at home for three weeks, running out of food and water before finally fleeing through active combat towards her village south of the city.

"In 2015, we didn't expect the fighting to reach our neighbourhood, and no one imagined it would last for weeks. We had no experience with war; it was our first time witnessing it," she said.

"This time is different. We have experience, so we rushed to stock enough food and water for at least a month. But we struggled to find wheat in the market as traders said they had none, and those who did sold it at a 50 per cent mark-up."

Yemen's foreign minister Afrah al-Zouba this week called the Houthi offensive against Taiz a "war crime" and said the government was in talks with companies and the Red Cross to find ways to deliver food, water and fuel to the city.

"The people there have not surrendered," she said in a press briefing. "Houthis are putting huge pressure on the people so they can break their resistance, but people don't accept being slaves to the Houthis. Taiz is paying this price of resistance to the Houthi agenda."

Analysts said the Houthis' latest attacks on Saudi Arabia, which have forced Riyadh's main airport to close for days, were designed to increase the cost of war on the kingdom and compel it to withdraw support for government-aligned forces. This would then allow them to extend control over Taiz and the rest of the country.

"Iran and its proxies are tightening the fire ring around Riyadh. So will Riyadh succumb and accept this reality?" asked Mohammed al-Qadhi, an independent Yemeni political and conflict analyst. "If that happens then Riyadh will pay a high price in the future."