By Faisal Abu Bakr | 2025-07-09

ADEN -- The Houthis' weaponization of water in areas they control continues to disrupt the lives of Yemenis, who have been forced to go to extraordinary lengths to obtain humanity's most basic need.

Water woes are felt acutely in Taez, where four of five provincial water basins remain under Houthi control or in conflict zones, said Judge Ishraq al-Maqtari.

The main treatment and distribution station is in government-controlled Taez city, which is under Houthi siege, she told Al-Fassel.

But the Houthis have blocked the flow of water from basins they control to Taez city, per a December 2023 Human Rights Watch report.

A new agreement to jointly manage supply systems and restore critical services has yet to be implemented, leaving residents mired in a familiar routine.

"I carry my laptop in the morning to go to university, and in the evening I carry an empty 20-liter container to stand in line at the water distribution tank in the neighborhood," Taez University computer science student Zainab Abdo said.

A 2,000-liter water tanker costs 30,000 YER (more than $11) in Taez.

But the cost of water often exceeds the earnings of taxi driver Abdo Ghailan, he said, forcing him to send his children "to stand in line for free water distribution."

But even free water comes at a deadly price.

Risking lives for water

Houthi snipers have injured and even killed women and children seeking water in contact areas near districts they control.

On June 3, 12-year-old Abdul Karim Abdullah Abdo Ahmed was injured by shrapnel from a Houthi sniper near al-Najd mosque, Al-Thawra reported.

On April 5, a woman and child were injured by sniper fire in Sala district, according to Yemen News.

The most haunting attack occurred August 17, 2020, when 9-year-old Ruwaida was shot in the head while carrying a 20-liter water container in Kalaba area.

"The Houthis have been cutting off water supplies to Taez since 2015," al-Maqtari said.

Wells supplying Taez Water Corporation are in Houthi areas, and "Houthi elements are blocking water supplies to these wells," causing "water scarcity and severe suffering," she said.

"The number of attacks on children and women who fetch water and firewood has increased," she added, pointing out that the group has planted mines on roads used for water collection in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi districts.

"These violations target civilians, which exacerbates the pain, suffering and anguish of children and women," al-Maqtari said, noting that the Houthis restrict access to water resources, aid tankers and even hospitals.

For students like Abdo, the ritual continues: laptop in morning, water container at night, caught between education's promise and survival's reality.