Water cuts and trash piles fuel disease fears in besieged Taiz, Yemen

Renewed battles between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and the Iran-aligned Houthi movement have sealed off the Taiz-Aden supply route, crippling fuel imports that power water pumps and hospital equipment in Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city. As diesel shortages mount, water output has fallen by roughly 50%, forcing households to stand in long lines for trucked water and to ration their daily use. Simultaneously, the breakdown of waste collection has left large trash heaps along main roads, a condition health officials say could trigger respiratory illnesses, cholera and dengue fever, with cholera cases tripling since early September.

The price of a water tanker has surged from about 23,000 to 70,000 Yemeni rials, straining cash-based aid that is already stretched thin. Organizations such as UNICEF, Save the Children, CARE International and the Danish Refugee Council are exploring shallow aquifers and other alternatives, but fuel shortages and road closures continue to hamper relief deliveries, endangering thousands of children already suffering from acute malnutrition.