At least eight civilians, including women and children, died in Taiz this week when artillery fire struck a residential village in Maqbana district. The local authority condemned the attack as a war crime, while ongoing fighting between government forces and Houthi groups triggered widespread displacement across the region.
Artillery Strikes Devastate Civilian Areas in Western Taiz
The local authority in Taiz announced that the death toll included eight civilians, with women and children among the dead. Another six individuals sustained injuries, while rescue operations continued as several more victims remained trapped beneath the rubble of collapsed homes. Human rights sources reported that the Houthi militia shelled the residential village of al-Maqadi in the Himyar al-Jabal area of Maqbana district on Saturday.
The local governing body issued a formal statement denouncing the assault on residential areas as a blatant war crime, describing it as a complete war crime that cannot be covered up by lies or justified under military pretexts. Officials held the Houthi movement entirely responsible for the attack and its grave humanitarian consequences, adding that the blood of the people of al-Maqadi reaffirms the terrorist nature of the Houthi militias. Security monitors and human rights sources documented parallel casualties across the province as military engagements intensified.
Erem News noted that a total of 24 Yemeni civilians were killed or injured over a 24-hour window due to combined shelling and sniper fire across multiple districts in Taiz. In the eastern district of Sabr al-Mawadim, separate sniper attacks and artillery fire claimed the lives of four civilians—including two women—and wounded six others. Meanwhile, Masrawy reported via the Yemeni news agency Saba and the Taiz Human Rights Center that a woman was killed and a young girl wounded in the al-Shaqab area, while field monitoring teams documented that 29-year-old citizen Rana Ibrahim Mohammed was wounded by Houthi sniper fire in the Kahlان area of the district, and three siblings suffered shrapnel injuries from a shell striking their home in the Uqaqa neighborhood.
Military Escalation and Mass Displacement Strain Local Infrastructure
The deadly shelling unfolded against a backdrop of renewed military escalation. Government forces and Houthi fighters clashed fiercely around the perimeter of the Old Airport in western Taiz, with the media center of the Taiz Military Axis reporting significant material and personnel losses inflicted upon the Houthi ranks. Government troops also repelled a large-scale Houthi offensive on the al-Shaqab front, supported by airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in southern Taiz, while the Yemeni government’s military operation “Fighter of Yemen” or “Fajr Yemen” aims to reclaim areas under Houthi control.
According to Al Arabiya, the ongoing conflict has severely damaged hundreds of thousands of lives, deepening a crisis defined by prolonged blockades, restricted access to basic necessities, and mass displacement.
| Location | Reported Casualties | Nature of Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Maqbana District (Himyar al-Jabal) | 8 dead, 6 injured (Initial toll) | Artillery shelling on residential village |
| Sabr al-Mawadim District | 4 dead, 6 injured | Sniper fire and artillery in residential areas |
| Al-Shaqab & Uqaqa Neighborhoods | 1 dead, 5 injured | Targeted shelling and sniper activity |
In response to the deteriorating security landscape, Yemen’s armed forces urged military and security personnel residing in Houthi-controlled zones of Taiz to ignore Houthi recruitment and conscription drives. Authorities called on service members to avoid being lured into recruitment and mobilization campaigns aimed at fighting or besieging their fellow citizens, and to coordinate directly with their leaders to learn procedures and specific centers for settling their status and receiving full salaries and entitlements according to approved regulations.
