Yemen's foreign minister urges Red Cross to ease Taiz siege
Afrah al-Zouba warned that fuel shortages could halt services at Taiz hospitals and asked the ICRC for regular access to supplies.
Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba raised the humanitarian crisis in Taiz with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, the news agency of Yemen's internationally recognised government Saba (Government) reported.
Al-Zouba spoke by phone with ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger about worsening conditions in Yemen amid escalation by the Houthi group, and about ways to strengthen cooperation between the government and the Red Cross.
She said the Houthi blockade of Taiz, now in its 12th year, had left residents facing road closures and blocked deliveries of food and medicine, which she said deepened their suffering.
She also raised the situation of people kidnapped by the Houthis, the government's account said.
Al-Zouba warned that the fuel shortage caused by the siege threatened to halt vital services at the city's hospitals.
She called on the Red Cross to secure urgent and regular access for fuel and medical supplies to the city.
Al-Zouba also cited continued attacks on health facilities, including a ballistic missile strike on the al-Suqayya Health Center in Lahj governorate that caused casualties, among them medical staff.
Yemen has been split between the Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the north, and the internationally recognised government since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened in the war in 2015 to support the government, and fighting and humanitarian suffering have continued across the country for years.
The ICRC, a Geneva-based neutral humanitarian organization, works in Yemen on medical care, detainee issues and the delivery of aid in areas affected by fighting.