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. That 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. 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 are all now in dire need of shelter and basic services,” said Saeed, who is now staying with relatives at another camp for displaced people. After four years of quiet along Yemen’s frontlines, Saeed had held out the hope that he would soon be able to return to his home in Maqbanah.
But now, with all-out war between the Houthis and the Yemeni government looking ever more likely, he would be happy just to be able to get back to al-Rahabah, where he at least had shelter, a source of water and a familiar place. The Houthis launched an offensive against government forces on the western fronts of Taiz governorate – including positions in Maqbanah district – early Thursday morning, using missiles and drones before initiating ground fighting described as the fiercest since 2022. The pro-Iranian Houthis managed to advance across several fronts in Maqbanah, Mawzaa and Jabal Habashi districts, triggering a new wave of displacement.
Saudi-backed government forces say they are confronting the attacks and have retaken some areas. Military reinforcements, including fighters and military vehicles, have been arriving for both the government and the Houthis. The fighting has grown fiercer, with dozens fighters killed on both sides.
It’s the latest escalation in Yemen’s more than decade-long conflict, which has intensified in recent months. The conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis launched a coup against Yemen’s government, and then seized much of northwest Yemen, including the capital Sanaa. Since early August, the Houthis have launched deadly missile, drone and ground attacks against government forces across several governorates, including Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah and al-Dhale.
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