Living conditions in Taiz have deteriorated since 4 October 2026, after the closure of the Al-Bireen route leading to Al-Turbah and the southern areas, along with other access points, cut the city off from fuel, food, medicine and water supplies, as fighting continues around it.
Petrol stations closed their doors, while the prices of basic goods rose within just four days, according to local data and testimony from residents and traders. From morning until midday, young Yemeni man Omar Mohammed Ali rode his motorbike around looking for a bottle of petrol to help him continue working, as the motorbike is his only source of income.
“I swear, I’ve been looking since morning for a bottle of petrol, but I haven’t found one,” Omar said before stopping at a fuel station at Sinan Roundabout in the city centre, only to find that it had no fuel either. Taiz is experiencing a complete shortage of fuel products after all stations closed, leaving residents with only the black market, which has itself become almost empty and offers only a small number of bottles.
The price of a small bottle, with a capacity of 750 millilitres, reached 4,000 Yemeni rials in the new currency, while one litre of fuel cost 6,000 rials. Omar said obtaining petrol had become difficult even on the black market, adding: “I swear, even on the black market there is no petrol.”
He said he had bought a small bottle that was not enough for two trips on his motorbike, adding: “I take a passenger and he gives me 700 rials; people don’t have money, and petrol is expensive and unavailable,” pointing to the gap between the cost of operating the motorbike and the income he earns from transporting passengers. The impact of the road closures is not limited to fuel, but has also extended to bread, food and medicines.
The impact of road closures on food and medicine
On Al-Tahrir Street, residents continue their daily activities under the burden of war and to the sound of shelling. Mohammed Al-Tamimi, a 40-year-old resident, accused some traders of exploiting the crisis, saying: “We are talking about the siege of the city and traders exploiting it. From the first day, they began raising prices and fuel prices and opening the black market. They are traders who profit from crises and wars.”
Residents say they are determined to remain in the city and refuse to allow Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, to enter it, stressing their readiness to resist and endure the consequences of the crisis. Al-Tamimi said: “We will struggle despite the siege and despite everything, but we are standing firm in every sense of the word. We will struggle for up to 10 years; we will not give in or submit.”
Bassem Al-Wafi, a native of Taiz, expressed a similar position, saying: “I swear, even if they cut off the air from us, we will remain steadfast in Taiz, and we will advance across the entire republic.” These positions come as fighting continues around the city and pressure increases as goods movement along the main supply routes comes to a halt. Data from the Taiz Statistics Office shows that the governorate’s population in 2026 is estimated at around 4 million and 477 thousand people.
Taiz’s population distribution and the scale of displacement
A total of 915 thousand and 150 people live inside Taiz city, including 347 thousand and 890 people in Al-Mudhaffar District, 286 thousand and 307 people in Sala District, and 280 thousand and 953 people in Al-Qahirah District. Around 3 million and 561 thousand and 850 people are distributed across the governorate’s other 20 districts.
Closed access points and supply routes
Alwan said the closed access points and roads include Al-Bireen, Al-Mokha and Al-Qasr Al-Hawban, as well as the Al-Turbah–Aden route and the roads linking Same’ and Al-Misrakh with Al-Dimnah. The closures have affected the districts of Jabal Habashi, Al-Shamayatayn and Al-Ma’afer, as well as Taiz city’s three districts—Sala, Al-Qahirah and Al-Mudhaffar—and also Al-Salw, Al-Mawaset, Al-Misrakh and Saber. The halt in supplies quickly pushed up commodity prices.
Alwan said the price of a kilogram of potatoes had risen from 1,000 rials to 2,000 rials, an increase of 100%, while the price of flour rose from 38,000 rials to 57,000 rials, an increase of 50% in just four days. Residents said a sack of wheat flour had at times reached 60,000 rials, despite being unavailable in the first place, while traders said garlic had been unavailable for four days.
Traders say the closure of access points and roads caused a widespread crisis, as goods such as eggs, yoghurt, dairy products, cheese, water of various kinds and soft drinks used to arrive through the eastern access point. Flour, wheat, rice and sugar came through the Al-Turbah–Aden route, meaning the closure of these routes halted the arrival of various basic goods to markets.
Rising commodity prices and disrupted trade
A trader who asked not to be named said no goods had entered Taiz since the Houthis closed the Al-Bireen route on 4 October, describing it as the city’s last supply route. He added: “The trader in Aden records the goods for me at the same official price, but how can we bring them in when the route is cut off?” He explained that the problem was the inability to transport the goods, not the price at which they were bought from the supplier in Aden.
Medicine prices have so far recorded a smaller increase compared with fuel and food prices. Pharmacy owners said the difference after the access points were closed remained limited, with the increase not exceeding 5%.
As the road closures continue, obtaining daily necessities is becoming more difficult and residents’ purchasing power is declining, while workers—including motorbike drivers—face rising operating costs and falling incomes at the same time.
