Drinking water has been scarce for over a decade in Taiz, but the problem has reached crisis levels in recent weeks as Iran-backed Houthi rebels besiege Yemen’s third-largest city in their escalating conflict with government forces.
The needs of Taiz’s more than 1 million residents are now barely being met, humanitarian groups say, as access to wells is limited, desalination plants run low on fuel and water delivery trucks are largely prevented from entering the city.
Families are rationing every drop. Before Taiz came under siege, Hadil al-Shahid and her two young children used about 10 litres (about 2.6 gallons) of bottled water per day for drinking and cooking; now they are making the same amount last about four days.
“We stopped drinking coffee and tea, which we used to drink daily,” al-Shahid said in a phone interview.