Accumulation Of Waste Exacerbates Disease Outbreaks In Taiz Amid Houthi Siege

Yemen Monitor/ Newsroom: A total of 5,025 cases of epidemic diseases, respiratory illnesses, and fevers were recorded in Taiz Governorate during October 2026, amid deteriorating environmental conditions caused by the accumulation of waste in streets, residential neighborhoods, and drainage channels due to the Houthi siege, according to the governorate’s Siege Affairs Office. In a statement published on the “X” platform, the office attributed the accumulation of garbage to the Houthi group’s blockage of waste transport to the main landfill in the Saleh Gardens area, as part of the ongoing siege imposed on the governorate. The office warned of the health and environmental ramifications of continued waste accumulation, highlighting the threat it poses to public health and the heightened risk of spreading epidemic and respiratory diseases. Since early October, the city has witnessed an escalating buildup of waste after sanitation trucks were rendered unable to reach the main landfill west of the city, which is situated along the contact line and under Houthi control. According to sanitation workers, snipers are deployed in the vicinity of the landfill and have opened fire on them multiple times while attempting to reach the site to unload the trucks, preventing the continuation of waste disposal operations. The inability to access the landfill has disrupted the waste collection and disposal system at a time when the city is suffering from a acute shortage of petroleum products and a decline in the operational capacity of the Cleaning Fund, driving the accumulation of waste in streets and storm drains, and forcing residents to resort to burning some of it to dispose of it. The post Accumulation Of Waste Exacerbates Disease Outbreaks In Taiz Amid Houthi Siege appeared first on Yemen Monitor.