Human Rights Watch Warns Houthi Attacks on Taiz Supply Route May Constitute War Crimes

Human Rights Watch has issued a stark warning regarding the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of recent Houthi attacks on the Hayjat al-Abd road, the primary commercial artery supplying the besieged Yemeni city of Taiz. The organization reported that Houthi forces detonated explosives on the road on October 18, 2026, causing severe structural damage that threatens the delivery of essential food, medicine, and fuel to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

In a report released Monday, the organization stated that the deliberate destruction of critical infrastructure necessary for civilian survival may constitute a violation of the laws of war and a potential war crime. Niku Jafar-nia, a Yemen and Bahrain researcher at Human Rights Watch, emphasized that targeting the last remaining commercial supply route exacerbates the plight of a population already suffering from acute shortages of basic necessities. Jafar-nia warned that the continued closure of this route poses an immediate threat to the lives and livelihoods of the city's inhabitants.

Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, has been under a protracted blockade by Houthi forces since 2015, which effectively severed vital links to the rest of the country, including the interim capital of Aden. Human Rights Watch conducted extensive investigations, including interviews with eight individuals familiar with the attacks, analysis of satellite imagery, and verification of multimedia evidence. Despite formal inquiries sent to Houthi leadership on October 21, the organization reported receiving no response regarding the incidents.

The report details two specific attacks in October. The first occurred on October 1, approximately 45 kilometers southeast of Taiz, where Houthi forces infiltrated the road and detonated explosives at a culvert near the al-Wahdi market. A second, more significant attack occurred on October 18 near Turba, where explosives caused heavy damage to a water culvert beneath the road. Local sources indicated that there was no active ground combat in the vicinity at the time of the latter explosion, suggesting a calculated effort to disrupt civilian logistics.

The humanitarian impact of these disruptions is severe. On October 14, the UN World Food Programme warned that it could no longer reach more than 600,000 people in Taiz who rely on humanitarian aid. With wheat flour stocks nearing depletion and local market supplies dwindling, the organization highlighted that the blockade violates international humanitarian law, which prohibits the use of starvation as a method of warfare and mandates that parties to a conflict must facilitate the passage of aid.

Human Rights Watch concluded by reiterating that under international humanitarian law, roads are considered civilian objects unless they serve a clear military purpose, and even then, attacks are prohibited if the anticipated harm to civilians is disproportionate to any military advantage. The organization urged all parties to the conflict to prioritize the protection of civilians who have endured years of systemic deprivation due to the ongoing blockade of Taiz.