Issued on: 20/07/2022 -
Traffic on a heavily damaged narrow road that serves as a lifeline between the Yemeni city of Taez, besieged by Huthi rebels, and the southern port of Aden
AHMAD AL-BASHA AFP
Dubai (AFP) – A truce has brought respite to Yemen after seven years of devastating war, but the blockage of roads remains a "major" humanitarian concern, a UN official has warned.
Yemen's conflict pitting the Saudi-backed government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels has killed hundreds of thousands since 2015 and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
A UN-brokered truce that took effect in early April has provided a rare respite from violence for much of the country and alleviated some of the suffering.
"The situation has improved overall," said Diego Zorrilla, UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, citing a drop in casualties, more regular fuel supplies and a resumption of flights.
But "roads are still blocked, so the improvement is not up to people's expectations", he told AFP, referring to one of the main parts of the truce yet to be implemented.
UN special envoy Hans Grundberg has sought to get the warring factions to agree to reopen roads at talks in Jordan, but so far they have resisted, fearing such a move would benefit the other side.
Travel is arduous between the loyalist areas and the rebel-held north, which accounts for 30 percent of Yemen's territory but where 70 percent of the population lives.
The routes are punctuated by roadblocks and detours can see the cost of transportation quadruple, complicating the delivery of aid and depriving many from access to basic services.
'People will die'
"The situation is particularly serious in Taez," a city surrounded by mountains, which is home to between 1.5 million and two million people, said Zorrilla.
Dubai (AFP) – A truce has brought respite to Yemen after seven years of devastating war, but the blockage of roads remains a "major" humanitarian concern, a UN official has warned.
Yemen's conflict pitting the Saudi-backed government against Iran-backed Huthi rebels has killed hundreds of thousands since 2015 and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
A UN-brokered truce that took effect in early April has provided a rare respite from violence for much of the country and alleviated some of the suffering.
"The situation has improved overall," said Diego Zorrilla, UN deputy humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, citing a drop in casualties, more regular fuel supplies and a resumption of flights.
But "roads are still blocked, so the improvement is not up to people's expectations", he told AFP, referring to one of the main parts of the truce yet to be implemented.
UN special envoy Hans Grundberg has sought to get the warring factions to agree to reopen roads at talks in Jordan, but so far they have resisted, fearing such a move would benefit the other side.
Travel is arduous between the loyalist areas and the rebel-held north, which accounts for 30 percent of Yemen's territory but where 70 percent of the population lives.
The routes are punctuated by roadblocks and detours can see the cost of transportation quadruple, complicating the delivery of aid and depriving many from access to basic services.
'People will die'
"The situation is particularly serious in Taez," a city surrounded by mountains, which is home to between 1.5 million and two million people, said Zorrilla.
Yemeni men try to move a vehicle stuck on a heavily damaged narrow road that serves as a lifeline for Yemen's third-largest city of Taez
AHMAD AL-BASHA AFP
The city, which was once an important cultural, academic and historical centre, is split by a 16-kilometre-long (10-mile-long) front line.
About 80 percent of the population lives in the government-held part of Taez, but the rebels control the higher ground where the city's water wells are located.
The divide has kept 16,000 workers from seeing their families, and most people have to buy water in expensive tanks, Zorrilla said.
Access to hospitals has also been hampered in Taez, which is cut off from the rest of the country.
"Instead of travelling 20 minutes for dialysis, patients sometimes have to go all the way to Aden", he said, referring to the southern port city that takes up to nine hours to reach on dangerous mountain roads.
The reopening of the roads is "a major humanitarian, economic and development issue", he said, adding that more than two thirds of Yemen's 30 million people need humanitarian aid.
The city, which was once an important cultural, academic and historical centre, is split by a 16-kilometre-long (10-mile-long) front line.
About 80 percent of the population lives in the government-held part of Taez, but the rebels control the higher ground where the city's water wells are located.
The divide has kept 16,000 workers from seeing their families, and most people have to buy water in expensive tanks, Zorrilla said.
Access to hospitals has also been hampered in Taez, which is cut off from the rest of the country.
"Instead of travelling 20 minutes for dialysis, patients sometimes have to go all the way to Aden", he said, referring to the southern port city that takes up to nine hours to reach on dangerous mountain roads.
The reopening of the roads is "a major humanitarian, economic and development issue", he said, adding that more than two thirds of Yemen's 30 million people need humanitarian aid.
The UN says it has only secured a quarter of the $4.3 billion it needs to help more than 17 million people needing aid in Yemen this year.
The shortfall is mainly due to declining contributions from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which say they are prioritising their own humanitarian causes.
The two Gulf states, members of a military coalition supporting Yemen's government, in April pledged $3 billion in economic aid to the country, but this has yet to be dispersed.
"People will die" unless the UN receives the necessary funding, said Zorrilla.
"The longer a crisis goes on, the more our attention decreases, but that doesn't mean the situation doesn't get worse."
The truce, which ends on August 2, must be renewed to work towards "the opening of roads and other more ambitious issues", he added.
© 2022 AFP
The two Gulf states, members of a military coalition supporting Yemen's government, in April pledged $3 billion in economic aid to the country, but this has yet to be dispersed.
"People will die" unless the UN receives the necessary funding, said Zorrilla.
"The longer a crisis goes on, the more our attention decreases, but that doesn't mean the situation doesn't get worse."
The truce, which ends on August 2, must be renewed to work towards "the opening of roads and other more ambitious issues", he added.
© 2022 AFP
Yemen: The increasing brutality of truck
"We know there is insecurity in some areas, and this is normal amid this situation, but security forces have been doing their best to protect roads in different areas," the source told MEE.
Mohanned is a taxi driver in his 40s who transports passengers between Taiz and Aden. He said the hijackings were not a new phenomenon but that the killings represented a sharp escalation in the levels of violence and brutality.
"Hijackers have been there for years in Lahij, but they used to loot cars, mobiles, money and other belongings. However, now they kill passengers," he told MEE.
"I call the Tour al-Baha road the road of death."
Mohanned said that when drivers faced hijackers, they usually tied to negotiate with them to not physically harm them and just take money, but he confirmed that the new ones were much more brutal.
"I have resorted to using an alternative road, which is through a valley and hard and long, but that is safer than sacrificing my lives and going along that dangerous road."
Mohanned said that other truck drivers avoided this alternative road as their trucks got damaged quickly, so they carried on using the road the hijackers favoured.
"When the trucks drive fast, the hijackers don’t dare to stop them, but when a truck breaks down or can't move very fast, it becomes a target for the hijackers."
Tribes
Some believe that the hijackers are backed by the tribes in Lahij province, but local residents deny that.
Ahmed al-Sobaihi, a Lahij resident, said that hijackers did not represent their tribes and they were not backed by any tribe.
"The hijackers have different kinds of weapons, and those are their own weapons, and they aren't weapons of a tribe, so this is the work of individuals," he told MEE.
"I think bad people are there in every province and tribe in the country, but we should talk about specific people and not a whole tribe or province."
He said that the road was safe at the moment because the security forces were stationed on it. He hoped that they would arrest the killers and send them to trial.
"We respect the law, and we hope that those who committed these crimes get punished so the whole country can be safe," Sobaihi said.
hijackers on the 'road of death'
There have always been bandits on the road between Taiz and Aden.
ByMEE correspondent in
Aden, Yemen
Published date: 12 June 2022
Mohammed, along with dozens of other Yemeni truck drivers, protested on Monday in front of the administrative offices of Taiz's al-Shimayateen district, demanding that the authorities arrest the hijackers who last week killed a child in Lahij.
Akram al-Azazi, 15, was shot dead on 2 June while sitting in the truck driven by his father, a driver who carries goods between Taiz and Aden.
The case created fury on social media and among Yemenis everywhere. Many truck drivers protested and stopped working for a day to express their anger. Some drivers are still on strike today.
Mohammed, 53, who asked for his last name to be withheld for security reasons, has been driving trucks between Taiz and Aden for more than 10 years and believes that the route through the Lahij governate's Tour al-Baha region is the most dangerous one for drivers to use, with hijackings now commonplace.
The road has become the main one between Taiz and Aden, after the Yemen war closed other key routes.
"When we drive through Tour al-Baha, we feel that we will meet our fate at any time. This has been our suffering for years," Mohammed told Middle East Eye.
"Although we pay thousands [of rials] each trip for the security forces at checkpoints to secure the road, they don't do anything. When we tell them about the hijacking of our colleagues, they say they can't do anything."
Mohammed said that hijackings had been happening for years, and that the security forces used to chase the bandits, but they no longer did.
"Five months ago, the hijackers stopped me and put a Kalashnikov to my head. I had no option but to give them all my money and my phone. I just about convinced them to let me go with my truck," he said.
"I was lucky, but others like Azazi were killed while security forces did nothing."
Chewing qat together
The director of the Tour al-Baha district said in a video statement that he had provided the security forces in Lahij with the names of the hijackers, but that they hadn't done anything.
He accused the security forces in Lahij of supporting the hijackers, saying that they chewed qat together at security checkpoints.
A source in Tour al-Baha district confirmed that a campaign had been started to protect the road but that the killers of Azazi and other victims were still free.
There have always been bandits on the road between Taiz and Aden.
But they are getting more violent, with security forces seemingly
unable to stop them
ByMEE correspondent in
Aden, Yemen
Published date: 12 June 2022
Mohammed, along with dozens of other Yemeni truck drivers, protested on Monday in front of the administrative offices of Taiz's al-Shimayateen district, demanding that the authorities arrest the hijackers who last week killed a child in Lahij.
Akram al-Azazi, 15, was shot dead on 2 June while sitting in the truck driven by his father, a driver who carries goods between Taiz and Aden.
The case created fury on social media and among Yemenis everywhere. Many truck drivers protested and stopped working for a day to express their anger. Some drivers are still on strike today.
'Five months ago, the hijackers stopped me and put a Kalashnikov to my head. I had no option but to give them all my money'- Mohammed, truck driver
Mohammed, 53, who asked for his last name to be withheld for security reasons, has been driving trucks between Taiz and Aden for more than 10 years and believes that the route through the Lahij governate's Tour al-Baha region is the most dangerous one for drivers to use, with hijackings now commonplace.
The road has become the main one between Taiz and Aden, after the Yemen war closed other key routes.
"When we drive through Tour al-Baha, we feel that we will meet our fate at any time. This has been our suffering for years," Mohammed told Middle East Eye.
"Although we pay thousands [of rials] each trip for the security forces at checkpoints to secure the road, they don't do anything. When we tell them about the hijacking of our colleagues, they say they can't do anything."
Mohammed said that hijackings had been happening for years, and that the security forces used to chase the bandits, but they no longer did.
"Five months ago, the hijackers stopped me and put a Kalashnikov to my head. I had no option but to give them all my money and my phone. I just about convinced them to let me go with my truck," he said.
"I was lucky, but others like Azazi were killed while security forces did nothing."
Chewing qat together
The director of the Tour al-Baha district said in a video statement that he had provided the security forces in Lahij with the names of the hijackers, but that they hadn't done anything.
He accused the security forces in Lahij of supporting the hijackers, saying that they chewed qat together at security checkpoints.
A source in Tour al-Baha district confirmed that a campaign had been started to protect the road but that the killers of Azazi and other victims were still free.
Yemenis dream of peace and open roads as truce continues to hold
Read More »
"We know there is insecurity in some areas, and this is normal amid this situation, but security forces have been doing their best to protect roads in different areas," the source told MEE.
Mohanned is a taxi driver in his 40s who transports passengers between Taiz and Aden. He said the hijackings were not a new phenomenon but that the killings represented a sharp escalation in the levels of violence and brutality.
"Hijackers have been there for years in Lahij, but they used to loot cars, mobiles, money and other belongings. However, now they kill passengers," he told MEE.
"I call the Tour al-Baha road the road of death."
Mohanned said that when drivers faced hijackers, they usually tied to negotiate with them to not physically harm them and just take money, but he confirmed that the new ones were much more brutal.
"I have resorted to using an alternative road, which is through a valley and hard and long, but that is safer than sacrificing my lives and going along that dangerous road."
Mohanned said that other truck drivers avoided this alternative road as their trucks got damaged quickly, so they carried on using the road the hijackers favoured.
"When the trucks drive fast, the hijackers don’t dare to stop them, but when a truck breaks down or can't move very fast, it becomes a target for the hijackers."
Tribes
Some believe that the hijackers are backed by the tribes in Lahij province, but local residents deny that.
Ahmed al-Sobaihi, a Lahij resident, said that hijackers did not represent their tribes and they were not backed by any tribe.
"The hijackers have different kinds of weapons, and those are their own weapons, and they aren't weapons of a tribe, so this is the work of individuals," he told MEE.
"I think bad people are there in every province and tribe in the country, but we should talk about specific people and not a whole tribe or province."
He said that the road was safe at the moment because the security forces were stationed on it. He hoped that they would arrest the killers and send them to trial.
"We respect the law, and we hope that those who committed these crimes get punished so the whole country can be safe," Sobaihi said.
Yemen’s terrifying, severely damaged road to Taiz on brink of collapse
Vehicles are pictured on a damaged road, the only travel route between Yemen’s cities of Taiz and Aden. Yemen has been left in ruins by six years of war, where over 24 million people are in need of aid and protection. (AFP)
Short Url
https://arab.news/57f3n
Unlike all other routes linking southwest Taiz to the rest of the war-torn country, the road — with its dizzying drop-offs into the valley below — is the only one that has not fallen into the hands of the Houthi rebels.
Some 500,000 inhabitants of the city, which is besieged by the Iran-backed Houthis, depend on the 7-km stretch of crater-filled road for survival, as the long conflict between the insurgents and the government shows no signs of abating.
Convoys of vehicles big and small move at a snail’s pace as they squeeze past each other on the narrow road that has been severely damaged over the years by heavy rainfall.
“As you can see, it is full of potholes, and we face dangerous slopes,” Marwan Al-Makhtary, a young truck driver, told AFP. “Sometimes trucks can no longer move forward, so they stop and roll back.”
Makhtary said nothing was being done to fix the road, and fears are mounting that the inexorable deterioration will ultimately bring the supply of goods to a halt.
Dozens of Taiz residents on Tuesday urged the government to take action, forming a human chain along the road — some of them carrying signs saying: “Save Taiz’s Lifeline.”
“We demand the legitimate government and local administration accelerate efforts to maintain and fix the road,” said one of the protesters, Abdeljaber Numan.
“This is the only road that connects Taiz with the outside world, and the blocking of this artery would threaten the city.”
Sultan Al-Dahbaly, who is responsible for road maintenance in the local administration, said the closure of the road would represent a “humanitarian disaster” in a country already in crisis and where the majority of the population is dependent on aid.
“It is considered a lifeline of the city of Taiz, and it must be serviced as soon as possible because about 5 million people (in the province) would be affected,” he told AFP.
Humanitarian aid
Meanwhile, Yemen’s president on Thursday urged his government’s rival, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, to stop impeding the flow of urgently needed humanitarian aid following a warning from the UN humanitarian chief last week that “the specter of famine” has returned to the conflict-torn country.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s plea came in a prerecorded speech to the UN General Assembly’s ministerial meeting being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aired more than a week after Human Rights Watch warned that all sides in Yemen’s conflict were interfering with the arrival of food, health care supplies, water and sanitation support.
Short Url
https://arab.news/57f3n
26 September 2020
AFP
Convoys of vehicles big and small move at a snail’s pace as they squeeze past each other on the narrow road that has been severely damaged over the years by heavy rainfall
TAIZ: Lorries filled to the brim with goods labor up and down the dangerously winding and precipitous road of Hayjat Al-Abed, the mountainous lifeline to Yemen’s third largest city.
AFP
Convoys of vehicles big and small move at a snail’s pace as they squeeze past each other on the narrow road that has been severely damaged over the years by heavy rainfall
TAIZ: Lorries filled to the brim with goods labor up and down the dangerously winding and precipitous road of Hayjat Al-Abed, the mountainous lifeline to Yemen’s third largest city.
Unlike all other routes linking southwest Taiz to the rest of the war-torn country, the road — with its dizzying drop-offs into the valley below — is the only one that has not fallen into the hands of the Houthi rebels.
Some 500,000 inhabitants of the city, which is besieged by the Iran-backed Houthis, depend on the 7-km stretch of crater-filled road for survival, as the long conflict between the insurgents and the government shows no signs of abating.
Convoys of vehicles big and small move at a snail’s pace as they squeeze past each other on the narrow road that has been severely damaged over the years by heavy rainfall.
“As you can see, it is full of potholes, and we face dangerous slopes,” Marwan Al-Makhtary, a young truck driver, told AFP. “Sometimes trucks can no longer move forward, so they stop and roll back.”
Makhtary said nothing was being done to fix the road, and fears are mounting that the inexorable deterioration will ultimately bring the supply of goods to a halt.
Dozens of Taiz residents on Tuesday urged the government to take action, forming a human chain along the road — some of them carrying signs saying: “Save Taiz’s Lifeline.”
NUMBER
500,000 inhabitants of Taiz, which is besieged by the Iran-backed Houthis, depend on the 7-km stretch of crater-filled road for survival.
“We demand the legitimate government and local administration accelerate efforts to maintain and fix the road,” said one of the protesters, Abdeljaber Numan.
“This is the only road that connects Taiz with the outside world, and the blocking of this artery would threaten the city.”
Sultan Al-Dahbaly, who is responsible for road maintenance in the local administration, said the closure of the road would represent a “humanitarian disaster” in a country already in crisis and where the majority of the population is dependent on aid.
“It is considered a lifeline of the city of Taiz, and it must be serviced as soon as possible because about 5 million people (in the province) would be affected,” he told AFP.
Humanitarian aid
Meanwhile, Yemen’s president on Thursday urged his government’s rival, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, to stop impeding the flow of urgently needed humanitarian aid following a warning from the UN humanitarian chief last week that “the specter of famine” has returned to the conflict-torn country.
President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi’s plea came in a prerecorded speech to the UN General Assembly’s ministerial meeting being held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aired more than a week after Human Rights Watch warned that all sides in Yemen’s conflict were interfering with the arrival of food, health care supplies, water and sanitation support.
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