The Siege of Taiz is an ongoing military confrontation between opposing Yemeni forces in the city of Taiz for control of the city and surrounding area. The battle began one month after the start of the Yemeni Civil War. The siege was partially lifted on 13 June 2024 with the opening of a key road into Taiz. The siege intensified during the 2026 Yemen offensives when the Houthis encircled Taiz.
Background
Houthi forces backed by troops loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen's influential former president and General People's Congress party head, swept into Taiz on 22 March, capturing the military airport and other key parts of the city. They encountered little resistance, although Houthi gunmen reportedly fired into the air to disperse protests. One demonstrator was killed and five more were injured.
Two days later, five demonstrators were killed by the Houthis and 80 were injured during a protest on 24 March against their presence in the city, while in the city of Al Turba, 80 km to the southwest, three protesters were killed and 12 injured while attacking a Houthi position.
On 11 April 2015, pro-Houthi soldiers and fighters loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi both reportedly mobilised around Taiz, with the 35th Armoured Brigade deploying on the city streets and anti-Houthi militiamen taking up positions north of the city, amid Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in the area. The 22nd Republican Guards Brigade was hit by an airstrike, as was the village of Al-Dhahirah in the Mawiyah District, the next day.
Chronology
2015
By 15 April 2015, Yemeni military sources reported that five pro-Saleh military brigades defected throughout the country, with one of them battling Houthis in the Taiz Governorate.
Airstrikes pounded Republican Guard and Houthi military positions in and around Taiz on 17 April 2015. A government official in Taiz told Xinhua News Agency that the airstrikes had caused dozens of injuries and virtually destroyed Taiz's infrastructure, as well as the military bases they struck.
Between 17 and 18 April 2015, at least 30 people were killed when Houthi gunmen, supported by the elite Republican Guard, assaulted the headquarters of the 35th Armoured Army Brigade, which had declared its loyalty to Hadi. The dead included 8–16 pro-Hadi and 14–19 Houthi fighters, as well as three civilians. Another report put the number of dead at 85. On the morning of 19 April, 10 more Houthi and four pro-Hadi fighters were killed.
On 22 April 2015, Houthi forces captured the pro-Hadi brigade's military base in Taiz. An airstrike was conducted against the base shortly after its capture. 10 pro-Hadi soldiers were killed in the battle for the base.
Four days later, residents reported that pro-Hadi forces had captured several city districts from the Houthis. Fighting was heaviest around government and security buildings in the city center, with some 20 civilians killed. After the local Al-Thawra hospital was hit, the WHO put the death toll at 19 civilians.
Fighting broke out in Taiz on 16 May, despite a five-day ceasefire agreed to by the Houthis, military factions, and Saudi-led coalition. At least a dozen civilians and a number of fighters on both sides were killed.
On 24 July, airstrikes targeted two residential complexes belonging to engineers and technicians of al-Mukha power plant of Taiz province.
By 5 August 2015, pro-Hadi forces at Ta'izz had received reinforcements from the south, allowing them to capture 75% of Ta'izz.
On 16 August 2015, only days after a large-scale pro-Hadi offensive in southern Yemen, pro-Hadi forces, backed by Saudi airstrikes, recaptured most of the city of Ta'izz. However, Houthis managed to reverse loyalist gains, capturing a number of strategic positions of Al-Salih Gardens, along with areas of the Al-Dabab Mountain region after weeks of losses, while Hadi loyalists attributed the retreat to lack of military equipment, compared to Houthi forces in the area who enjoyed an advantage in terms of supplies.
Fourteen civilians were killed and 70 wounded on 22 October due to shelling by Houthis and pro-government forces.
Saudi Arabian Colonel Abdullah al-Sahian and Emirati Colonel Mohammed Ali al-Kitbi, who were operating in the Taiz area, were killed in a rocket strike by Houthi militiamen on 14 December 2015. They were some of the senior-most officers of the Saudi-led coalition killed in the war.
2016
BBC reported on February 22 that video footage had emerged showing members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) fighting in the battle alongside pro-Hadi fighters. The pro-Hadi coalition of Sunni governments has however denied co-operating with the extremists. According to humanitarian organizations, 58 civilians, and 269 others were injured in February by the fighting in Taiz.
On 12 March, pro-government fighters made significant progress in Taiz, by capturing several districts, and government buildings and ousted many Houthi fighters from the area.
On 17 March, humanitarian aid arrived in the recaptured part of Taiz.
On 19 March, Houthi fighters attacked pro-Hadi fighters in the recaptured part of the city. Yemeni security and medical officials said 35 fighters had been killed in clashes between Shiite rebels and pro-government forces in Taiz. The officials said that Houthis were trying to retake the western part of the city, while the Saudi-led coalition launched more than a dozen airstrikes to prevent Houthis from advancing.
On 22 March, at least 39 Houthis were killed and dozens injured when Houthis recaptured Taiz from pro-government forces. Over the weekend, at least 55 people, including civilians, were killed in two days of intense fighting in and around the city.
On 24 March, Houthis escalated their offensive by recapturing the lost part of Taiz and some strategic roads that lead to Aden. The Houthis built walls to prevent the Hadi loyalists' reinforcements from arriving in the city. Meanwhile, 13 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, arrived in the part of Taiz recaptured by the government.
On 25 March, according to reports, 14 civilians were killed by the Saudi-led coalition inside the Houthi held part of Taiz.
Houthi forces and allied forces loyal to former president Saleh seized control of the center of Al Wazi'iyah District in southwestern Taiz governorate on April 1.
A ceasefire in Taiz was agreed upon by the opposing forces and enforced on 11 April. One violation was reported by residents and local journalists who said that the Houthis shelled residential areas and a military base after midnight.
On 17 April, an agreement was reached between the Houthis and the loyalists to reinforce the ceasefire on all fronts in the city.
Post-ceasefire and renewed clashes
On 18 April, Houthi militias and forces loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh continued to bomb residential neighborhoods in the city of Taiz and the opening of the eastern and western ports of the city, despite the signing of a truce agreement on a day before. The official Yemeni news agency quoted a local Yemeni source as saying, "Violent explosions were heard last night on more than one front, while the two eastern exits leading to Sanaa and the western one leading to Al Hudaydah were shut down and sieged by the Houthis." The Media Bureau of the Popular Resistance in Taiz has recorded more than 16 violations committed by the coup militias, which included bombing of military bases, resistance sites, and residential neighbourhoods during the agreed truce timeline.
6 people; including 1 pro-government fighter and 5 Houthi fighters were killed on 9 May during shelling by both Houthis and pro-government forces.
MSF reported on June 3 that a rocket fired on a crowded market had killed 6 people and injured 18. However it was later reported on 6 June that the rocket attack had killed 12 people and left more than 122 injured, a number much higher than the previous reported number. Two rocket attacks on 6 June killed a woman and injured her three children. 45 people including three civilians were killed by the same day in two days of fighting.
On 18 June, the warring parties exchanged 194 prisoners with 118 being Houthi fighters and the other 78 being pro-government fighters. 13 people were killed during clashes on 22 June. A mortar fired by Houthis in central Taiz killed 5 people and wounded 5 others. 2 pro-government fighters were killed and 8 others were injured in fighting in western Taiz according to Abdel Aziz al-Majedi who also claimed that scores of Houthi fighters were killed and injured and number of them were captured.
On 26 June, the Houthis captured the base of Brigade 35, Also known as "Al-Qasr Camp" after a week long battle
On 3 July, during the morning hours, Yemeni popular committees and Houthi fighters managed to capture a strategic military site in the Haifan District of the Ta'iz Governorate after fierce clashes against Coalition-backed Hadi forces.
On 8 July, a Saudi-led Coalition airstrike targeted a gathering of Houthi fighters in Mocha town, killing 17 and wounding dozens others.
On July 25, the pro-Hadi militias captured a mountain area near Taiz.
On July 27, Yemeni army and Al-Islah militias took control of the Sarari village, and reportedly found an Iranian training camp there.
A mosque of a Sufi saint was blown up by the Salafist militias on 29 July.
By August 2016 Houthis had captured the Hayfan district, thus capturing southern Taiz completely. This victory put them in a position to cut the Taiz-Lahij road and brought them near Tor al-Baha. The Saudi Arabia-led coalition conducted airstrikes and raids against Houthis in the governorate with clashes between Houthis and pro-government forces reported in Al-Silw district.
On August 9, 2016, 11 civilians, including seven children, were killed by an anti-vehicle mine in Al Wazi'iyah, which is located in the western part of Taizz province.
On 16 August, the Houthi militias and forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh cut off the last supply routes between Taiz and government-controlled Aden.
On 18 August, pro-government troops launched an offensive on Houthis to break their siege around Taiz. Pro-government sources claimed troops had captured several areas east and west of the city.
Houthis cut off the last supply route of pro-Hadi fighters to Aden on 20 August. The pro-government forces claimed to have partially broken the siege on the city later in the day after capturing the Han mountain.
On 22 August, Yemeni military sources claimed 11 Houthi fighters were killed during clashes near western entrance of Taiz while 2 Houthi fighters were killed during an airstrike by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition at the northern entrance of Taiz. At least 15 civilians were reported on 28 August to have been killed when Saudi jets carried out airstrikes on a minibus carrying them.
6 civilians were killed in As Silw district on 12 September when a Katyusha rocket fired by pro-Houthi fighters landed on their home.
On 14 September, pro-government sources stated that 5 Houthi fighters were killed when the Houthis launched an offensive on the mountainous Khabub area.
On 15 September, pro-Houthi forces stated that 27 Houthi fighters and 13 pro-government fighters were killed during clashes around Taiz. It is also reported that 200,000 civilians were caught up in the fighting in Taiz.
On 30 September, a top Houthi commander, Abu Nasr Alkhawlany along with eight of his companions had been reportedly killed by a coalition-staged raid in Alrawd village, located west of Taiz.
On 3 October, at least 10 civilians have been killed in a rocket attack in Beir al-Basha district in Taiz.
On the evening of 25 October, the head of the Houthi's missile operations Mohammed Nasser Al-Kaait, was killed by a Saudi coalition airstrike in the Marran area of the Taiz province.
On 26 October, a senior Houthi military operative, Abu Majed, was killed along with a number of other fighters in west of the city of Taiz.
On 30 October, at least 18 civilians were killed in a Saudi-led coalition air raid in As Silw District.
On 2 November, at least 28 Houthi fighters and six government loyalists were killed during clashes in the Taiz city. Abd Hamoud, the commander of pro-government tribesmen, said that they are trying to take control of hilly locations that overlook Taiz Al Rahida road that links the city with Aden.