Nearly 50,000 people have fled a sudden advance by Houthi forces in western Yemen, with entire villages emptied and families trapped near the front line struggling with depleting food supplies, according to aid workers. Civilians in the Middle East’s poorest country have become victims of a global fight for control of one of the world’s most important shipping routes, which threatens to turn Yemen’s intermittent conflict into an eternal war. In a lightning advance this week, the Iranian-backed Houthi militants have seized a series of towns along the Red Sea coast from forces aligned with the Yemeni government backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of people have reportedly died. Many fear a return to the full-scale civil war that killed 150,000 people and brought many others to the brink of famine. Map of Yemen showing Houthi-controlled area The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday that 46,000 people had been displaced in the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah, where rugged, green mountain ridges give way to arid coastal plains. For many families, this was the second or even third time they had been forced to leave their homes. A significant number of people were observed leaving the city with their belongings. The fighting has cut off key roads, while telephone lines are cut in some areas. “The scale of displacement is increasing rapidly,” said Joe Lowry, IOM spokesman for the Middle East and North Africa in Cairo. A heavily loaded vehicle arrives in Sana’a as people flee the fighting on the front lines. Photo: Yahya Arhab/EPA The most urgent needs were emergency shelter, cash assistance, food, clean water, household items, medical care and protective services. “Civilians are bearing the brunt of renewed frontline warfare, airstrikes, bombings and large-scale displacement,” Lowry said. “Many of those fleeing arrived with very few belongings after leaving suddenly, due to shelling and frontline advances.” Lowry said aid workers had to constantly reassess access and adapt movements as the situation changed. “It is a very fluid and uncertain situation, marked by rapid territorial changes, population movements and growing concern among communities about further escalation,” he said. The Houthi advance has come unexpectedly and quickly, particularly the fall of the strategic port city of Mocha, widely considered the cradle of the global coffee trade and the eponym of chocolate-flavored coffee. Residents fled the strategic port city of Mocha after Houthi attacks that destroyed civilian infrastructure. Photograph: Al Joumhouriya TV/Reuters Mohammed, 46, who left Mocha in the middle of the night, told Agence France-Presse there was an “apocalyptic” atmosphere in the town. Another man, Mujahid Tahami, who left for the government-controlled southern city of Aden, said some families had been victims of “looting by gangs as they tried to flee.” Others reported that they had managed to escape in time, some on motorcycles, but other family members were not so lucky and were trapped. Yemen analysts have long criticized the United States and its allies for taking an approach focused on the country’s security that undervalues diplomacy and development. Washington launched a campaign of drone strikes against Sunni al Qaeda militants throughout much of the 21st century, but did not pay much attention to the hardline Shiite Houthi insurgency until its forces reclaimed the capital in 2014. Houthi soldiers stand guard outside a makeshift camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), in Sana’a on Thursday. Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPAB By taking control of key areas this week, including islands off the coast, the anti-Western Houthis hope to gain a direct presence near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a 20-mile stretch of water and a vital trade and energy route connecting Asia to Europe. The name of the strait roughly translates as “the gate of tears” or “the gate of pain,” and its strong currents and winds made passage between the Arabian Peninsula and the east coast of Africa dangerous for centuries. Modern cargo ships have no physical problems passing through it. But if the Houthis were to close the natural bottleneck, the impact on the global economy could be disastrous. Ships would have to detour around the southern tip of Africa, adding thousands of additional nautical miles. The fighting has already contributed to the price of oil rising above $100 a barrel after weeks in which it was trading near $80. The fighting in Yemen, as well as Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia, is the most significant violence in the country since the U.N.-brokered peace plan for 2022. U.N. special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told an emergency security council meeting on Thursday that the country was facing “a new and more dangerous phase of war.” Grundberg said. “This effectively marks the end of the relative calm Yemen has experienced for more than four years since the UN-brokered truce. Not only does it threaten to plunge Yemen into a protracted and expanding war, it also risks dragging the country once again into a broader, unresolved regional confrontation with global repercussions.” Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPAInstability in Yemen has been exploited by regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates to wage proxy battles, and the failure to end the violence has led to the growth of powerful militias. The US-Israel war against Iran has only increased tensions, with regional animosity at an all-time high. This has worsened one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The UN’s most recent humanitarian report, released last month, warned that the country of 40 million people was facing a deepening malnutrition crisis, with about half the population facing acute food insecurity nationwide. “Years of conflict, economic deterioration, displacement, climate-related crises and regional tensions have steadily weakened household livelihoods and resilience,” the report warned. “At the same time, declining humanitarian funding and operational constraints are limiting the ability of aid organizations to provide assistance on the scale required.” On the Red Sea coast, those who escaped the latest wave of fighting lost their lives but were left in a state of shock. “It is a catastrophe and the attacks continue,” said Mohammed Khudairi, who fled the fighting to a displaced persons camp of wood and straw huts near the Khokha areas. “We managed to get out, but others are still trapped there.”
