Houthis kill or injure 136 civilians in Taiz in 12 days, rights group says

The Taiz Human Rights Center in Yemen has documented the killing and injury of 136 civilians, including 43 children and 19 women, as a result of violations and attacks by the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Taiz province between November 1 and 12.

According to a report cited by Yemen’s Saba news agency, the center said 51 civilians were killed—including 13 children and three women—while 85 others were wounded, among them 30 children and 16 women. The casualties resulted from rocket and artillery shelling, sniper fire, shootings, landmines, and other incidents linked to Houthi assaults across the province’s districts.

The report noted that three massacres occurred during this period: at the Najd market in Al-Misrakh district, in the village of Al-Athawer in Hayfan district, and at the Al-Hadhara popular market in Al-Wazi'iyah district. These attacks on crowded civilian areas left 43 dead and 30 injured.

Al-Misrakh district recorded the highest toll, with 12 killed and 34 wounded, followed by Al-Wazi'iyah with 30 killed and eight wounded, Saber Al-Mawadem with three killed and 19 wounded, Al-Mudhaffar with two killed and seven wounded, and Hayfan with four killed and four wounded. Other injuries were reported in Mashra'a Wa Hadnan, Al-Qahira, Al-Mawasit, and Jabal Habashi districts.

The report added that violations extended beyond targeting civilians with shelling and sniping, including the abduction of health and education workers and other citizens, storming and blowing up homes, damaging others, and seizing properties and facilities in the health, education, religious, social, and commercial sectors. An ambulance was also targeted while transporting a wounded person in Saber Al-Mawadem district.

The center documented the abduction of several civilians during the same period, including a health worker, teachers, and shop owners. It also reported the storming and seizure of 40 homes in the Kuwait residential village in Al-Misrakh district, as well as the takeover of the Abdullah Al-Mubarak complex in the city of Al-Turba, including its buildings and facilities—health, educational, religious, and social.

The center stressed that the documented incidents—especially the shelling of markets and homes, direct sniper attacks on civilians, and targeting of ambulances—amount to war crimes. It called for an end to attacks on civilians and residential areas, lifting the siege and restrictions on the province, ensuring safe passage for patients, the wounded, and ambulances, releasing abductees, and returning seized homes and facilities. The center urged the United Nations, international community, and human rights organizations to act urgently to protect civilians, launch an independent and transparent investigation into the crimes and violations, and hold those responsible accountable.

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