More than 250,000 displaced in Yemen since July, UNHCR says
More than 250,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen since fighting reignited in July, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on 20 October 2026.
The central city of Taiz is at the center of the displacement. UNHCR said Taiz accounts for 76 percent of departures and hosts 52 percent of those newly displaced. Lahij hosts 23 percent of the newly displaced population and Aden hosts 13 percent. Al Jazeera
About 33,700 families still require shelter assistance, according to the agency. UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said the most immediate needs identified are shelter, food and multi-purpose cash assistance.
Water supplies for civilians in Taiz are under growing strain. UNICEF, the U.N. agency for children, said escalating fighting and fuel shortages are threatening water systems serving an estimated three million people, including at least 1.6 million children. UNICEF issued the warning from Aden on 20 October and said it is keeping pumping systems operational through the provision of diesel. UNICEF
Houthi forces have encircled Taiz since early October, blocking the road linking it to Aden. UNICEF said in a flash update on 18 October that hostilities around Taiz and disruption of the main southern supply route are restricting civilian movement and deliveries.
The displacement figure has risen quickly in recent weeks. The U.N. reported more than 100,000 internally displaced people on 15 September, more than 130,000 by 22 September and more than 200,000 by 7 October. That escalation has been described as the most serious fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since a U.N.-brokered truce largely halted fighting. Reuters
Fighting has also spread to other fronts. Local authorities said the death toll from a Houthi ballistic missile strike on a military training camp in Shabwa governorate increased to at least 58. Saudi-backed coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said its forces destroyed 127 Houthi weapons depots and missile launch platforms.
The United Kingdom said it would deploy Royal Air Force jets on defensive missions to help protect Saudi Arabia from increasing Houthi attacks.
Children are among those heavily affected. UNICEF reported in late September that fighting had displaced 71,000 children and that more than a quarter of the nearly 2,900 children it screened in recent weeks were acutely malnourished.
