Houthi attacks on Yemen’s Taiz escalate, triggering new displacement wave

Taiz, Yemen – Abdullah Saeed, 47, fled his home in the Maqbanah district west of Taiz in 2022, leaving everything behind and settling in al-Rahabah camp in the Jabal Habashi area 90km (55 miles) south.While he and around 300 other families in the camp have since struggled to meet their basic needs, they at least enjoyed a peaceful life far from the frontlines.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Houthi fighters clash with Yemeni government forces in country’s southwestlist 2 of 3Saudi Arabia condemns deadly Iranian attack on tanker in Strait of Hormuzlist 3 of 3China’s Xi urges new Middle East security framework during rare Egypt visitend of listThat is, until the battles came to Jabal Habashi. An attack from Yemen’s Houthi rebels early on Thursday targeted the district and other areas in southwest Yemen, with heavy fighting continuing.As the Houthis advanced towards al-Rahabah, Saeed and hundreds of other families fled once again.“Fighting erupted suddenly at night. We were far from the battlefield, but in the morning, we were shocked to see the frontlines near our camp. There was no solution but to take our basic belongings and flee,” he told Al Jazeera. “We had a bad ex...