Yemeni government suspends classes in Houthi-held districts of Taiz

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TAIZ, Yemen — Yemen’s government has suspended classes in districts of Taiz governorate held by the Houthis, citing security conditions it says make normal operation impossible.

The decision was announced on Thursday by Taiz’s Government Emergency Committee and carried by the state-run Yemen News Agency, Saba.

Classes are suspended in schools, institutes, colleges and both public and private universities in the affected districts, according to the committee’s circular.

The committee approved temporary leave for staff at those institutions. The leave runs from the date of the circular until further notice and does not affect their legal or employment status, the committee said.

Students are treated as being on official leave. Study and administrative work will resume through an official notification once the circumstances behind the order have passed, the committee said.

Employees in health, sanitation and water services are exempt, so that those services continue.

The circular warned state administrative staff against acting on assignments or orders issued by the Houthis. It said violators would face legal action.

The committee said the order was issued in light of exceptional security circumstances. It described the aim as protecting students, teachers, administrative staff and government employees, along with lives and property.

The statement did not name the districts covered, or say how many were affected.

The government referred to the Houthis as a terrorist militia, a characterisation the group disputes.

The account of the suspension rests on the committee’s statement as carried by Saba. No independent confirmation of the order, or of how it is being applied, has been published.

Fighting has spread across Yemen since a truce that had largely held since 2022 collapsed in July.

Houthi forces captured about 150 kilometres of Red Sea coastline in September, along with areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait and the port of Mocha. Mocha had served as a supply route for Taiz city.

Taiz city remains under government control. Much of the surrounding governorate is contested.

Most of the fighting in the governorate has been on its western axis, around Jabal Han, a mountain overlooking Taiz city, and at Hazran. The government says it repelled Houthi attacks at both.

Observers have described the fighting in the governorate as a stalemate, with neither side holding a clear advantage.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, ordered forces on Oct. 4 to begin operations to retake Houthi-held territory. The government calls the campaign Dawn of Yemen.

Al-Alimi’s stated objective is to recover all territory held by the Houthis, including Sanaa, which the group has controlled since 2014.

Government forces said on Oct. 5 that they had retaken Dhubab district on the west coast, and later that they had entered Mocha. The Houthis denied both accounts.

The Homeland Shield Forces, a pro-government faction, began an operation on Oct. 6 in al-Waziiya, a mountainous district west of Taiz city and east of Mocha, according to the Yemeni army’s media centre. A military source cited by the centre said troops had secured hills overlooking al-Mansoura. The Houthis said they repelled the advance.

Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili, the army spokesman, said on Oct. 5 that 1,747 Houthi fighters had been put out of action in 1,122 operations, and that 364 vehicles had been destroyed or disabled. Those figures have not been independently confirmed.

The Saudi-led coalition said on Oct. 4 that it had carried out 97 strikes on Houthi reinforcements around Taiz and on the Tor al-Baha front. Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, the coalition spokesman, said 100 of its fighter jets were supporting the government offensive.

Government forces have closed the roads into Taiz city, saying they fear infiltration. Security sources have said the Houthis cut the last supply route between Taiz and Aden, the government’s interim capital.

The Interior Ministry said on Oct. 2 that Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salem Abdullah al-Khawlani, chief of staff of its Emergency Forces, had been killed on the al-Kadaha front in Taiz.

Schooling in Yemen was already disrupted before the suspension. UNICEF says more than 137,000 students have lost access to education in conflict-affected areas, and that hundreds of schools have suspended classes.

The agency puts the number of Yemeni children out of school before the current escalation at 3.2 million. It says more than 57,000 children were displaced in the first two weeks of September.

The United Nations said more than 150,000 people had been displaced by the renewed fighting as of Oct. 2. Yemen’s Executive Unit for IDP Camps Management has put the figure at close to 200,000 since early September, most of them from Taiz.

Mohammed Radman, a displacement coordinator with the unit in Jabal Habashi district, said every school near the front lines there is closed. He said functioning schools nearby are too crowded to take displaced pupils, and that the district holds thousands of displaced students.

The United Nations humanitarian plan for Yemen published in March estimated that more than 22 million people need assistance and that 18.3 million face acute food insecurity. It sought 2.16 billion dollars to reach 12 million people.

UNHCR and the World Health Organization have warned that the fighting threatens Yemen’s health system.

Taiz has been a front line for much of the war, with Houthi forces holding highland positions around the city for years.