UN relief chief says Yemen’s civilians paying ‘brutal price’ as Taiz runs low on supplies

The UN’s relief chief warned Monday that Yemen’s civilians are bearing the cost of an escalating conflict, with nearly 300,000 people displaced since August, Anadolu reports.

“Yemen’s civilians are paying a brutal price for this escalating conflict,” said Tom Fletcher in a post on the US social media platform X.

Fletcher said roads are closed and supplies are running out in the besieged city of Taiz, home to around 1 million people, where water production has halved and food prices have soared by at least 50%. Hospitals are running out of fuel and medicines, he added.

He said he spoke with Yemen’s Foreign Minister Afrah Abdulaziz Al-Zouba about the crisis, adding that humanitarian partners have reached nearly 260,000 displaced people, but “needs are outpacing our response.”

“Our asks are clear. Open the roads and let them through. Civilians cannot be held hostage by the fighting,” Fletcher said.

He also expressed outrage over the death of Mohammad el Shami, a staff member of the UN Human Rights Office in Yemen, in Houthi custody, adding that 70 UN staff and dozens of other humanitarians remain detained.

READ: WHO: Yemen escalation leaves over 9,000 dead or injured, displaces 276,000

“They are not bargaining chips. Release them,” he said.

El Shami, who worked for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), had been arbitrarily detained by the Houthi group since June 6, 2024.

El Shami was the second UN employee to die in Houthi detention.

Ahmed Ba’alawi, a national staff member of the World Food Program, had been arbitrarily detained by local authorities in northern Yemen since Jan. 23, 2025 and died on Feb. 11 of that year.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when Houthi forces seized the capital, Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.

The conflict has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, leaving millions of people dependent on humanitarian assistance.

READ: 20 civilians killed, injured in Houthi missile attack on health center in Yemen: Media