The Iran-backed Houthi militias’ eight-year siege of Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz was partially broken on Thursday.
A cooking gas shipment was delivered to the city through an under-construction road, revealed official government sources.
Two tankers, loaded with 25 tons of cooking gas, managed to access the city through the al-Mokha-al-Kadha road.
The Houthis have been barring access to the city through main roads.
Director of the Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation Taiz branch, Bilal al-Qumeiri said the shipment will help meet the needs of the people and ease their suffering, government media quoted him as saying.
He revealed that shipments will be rerouted through this strategic road once its construction is completed.
He said living conditions in the liberated directorates will significantly improve once the gas is provided, especially with the advent of the holy fasting month of Ramadan that begins later this month.
Member of the Presidential Leadership Council Tariq Saleh stressed that the development was significant in easing the oppressive Houthi siege on Taiz and facilitating the movement of citizens and goods to liberated regions.
The new 14 km route connects Taiz to al-Mokha through the al-Kadha area. The route was funded by the United Arab Emirates and overseen by the humanitarian cell of the national resistance, reported Yemeni media.
The terrorist Houthis have been imposing their siege on Taiz, Yemen’s most populous city, for eight years. They have been blocking the al-Houban-Aden main road that is used in trade and travel.
The Houthis have been allowing the passage of goods, oil derivatives and humanitarian needs strictly through very steep roads that are accident-prone.
The siege has forced the locals and businesses to seek treacherous and poorly-maintained roads to go about their daily lives, sometimes taking several hours to reach their destination when prior to the siege, such a journey would have taken mere minutes.
Saleh toured the area after the siege was broken, praising the efforts that led to the paving and opening of the new route.
Construction of the route had kicked off in October and is expected to be complete in the coming months.
The Houthis have rejected all United Nations efforts and proposals in the past months to lift the siege in spite receiving several gains from humanitarian agreements that have been implemented, such as reaping benefits from the return of imports to Hodeidah ports and resuming flights at Sanaa airport.
The Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) had inaugurated in May 2022 maintenance operations of the Haija-al-Abed route that connects Taiz to the Lahj and Aden provinces. Work is still undergoing. The 9 km route is vital to over five million Yemenis.
