The warring parties in Yemen have varied in their goals and objectives, yet they have all contributed to the suffering of the citizens and the deterioration of their living conditions. The margin of Yemeni life is eroding, and the suffering of the Yemeni people intensifies as the war drags on, devouring the basics of life and even the most trivial daily necessities.

From the soaring prices and the scarcity and difficulties of accessing drinking water, to the complete blackout of public electricity, the lack of job opportunities, the blocking of public roads, the siege of cities and provincial capitals, to the restrictions on freedom of travel and movement, illegal detentions, and many other daily miseries.            

One of the most suffocating aspects of this crisis is the communication blackout in the western regions of Taiz. On February 3, 2024, US/British airstrikes (under the Prosperity Guard coalition) targeted the main towers of the YOU mobile network company in the Al-Aqhooz area of Maqbnah district, Taiz governorate, which supplies the entire coastal regions of Taiz with coverage. The strike was in response to operations by the Ansar Allah (Houthi) group in the Red Sea, which are linked to the ongoing events in the Gaza strip.

The attack led to cutting off communications for many areas in the Maqbna district, as well as the northern and eastern rural areas of the Mocha district, and the northern rural areas of the Mawz'a district, isolating them completely. Notably, the YOU company is almost the sole network covering these regions and connecting them to the outside world, especially after the coverage of the Sabafon mobile network company diminished significantly since 2011 and was almost completely cut off from the region.

As a result, this targeting has become a form of siege, exacerbating the daily burdens for residents of the mentioned rural regions and creating dire humanitarian challenges.

“After waiting a long time to receive a money transfer, one resident thought his phone might be malfunctioning. So he took it to a mobile technician, urgently requesting a repair, only to be shocked when told that the issue was not with his phone but with the network, which had been cut off by the airstrikes, resulting in a complete service outage in the area. Consequently, he returned empty-handed to his sick son.”

For his part, the expatriate Ilaafi Al-Khaddash (27 years old) recounts, "A few days before the network outage, my wife gave birth to our first daughter. I was overjoyed, cherishing the sound of my baby whenever I called my wife. I would ask her to let our daughter, Wateen, make any sound to hear her and feel comforted. I also requested photos and videos of her playing. These calls and messages motivated me to work and eased my loneliness in exile. However, after the region was isolated from communication due to the airstrike, I became worried about my wife and daughter, especially after learning that my daughter had contracted a viral flu on her fifteenth day. This situation led me to depression and frustration, sapping my motivation to work. I don’t know how I can continue working under these conditions of isolation and complete disconnection."

Ilaafi continues, “We appealed to all concerned parties and the YOU telecom company to restore service to the area, but no one responded. Now, we are extremely anxious, contemplating leaving our jobs and returning from abroad to escape this constant state of worry and depression.”

Likewise, Mohammed Ahmed, a 50-year-old resident, rushed one of his children to a clinic in the Al-Najeebah area and was expecting to receive a money transfer to cover his child's medical expenses. Unaware that the network had been targeted, resulting in a complete communication blackout in the entire region, he grew concerned when the transfer was delayed. After waiting a long time, he thought his phone might be malfunctioning. So he took it to a mobile technician, urgently requesting a repair, only to be shocked when told that the issue was not with his phone but with the network, which had been cut off by the airstrikes, resulting in a complete service outage in the area. Consequently, he returned empty-handed to his sick son.

In response to this daily suffering, activists, including expatriates, launched appeal campaigns on social media, directly contacting the relevant authorities in the area and reaching out to YOU telecom company to restore service. After receiving promises and feeling hopeful about the return of service, they were met with the news that the YOU telecom company had been barred from bringing in the necessary equipment to restore service in the Al-Kadaha area of the Ma'afir district in Taiz governorate, which is under the control of the Western Coast Forces. Neither the Western Coast authorities nor the YOU telecom company provided any reasons or justifications to the public for this decision.

Actually, this incident reminds citizens and the public of a similar decision on May 27, 2022, when the coastal authorities prevented the Yemen Mobile network company from installing the necessary equipment to operate 4G service in the region. The authorities seized the equipment and detained the engineering team for three days before releasing them. The service was then diverted to the Al-Turbah area in the Al-Shamayatayn district of Taiz governorate, also without any explanation or justification, except for the reasons circulated at the time, which claimed that preventing the service’s entry into the area was due to security concerns as deemed by the coastal authorities.

Accordingly, this brings us back to the initial question we began with: How have the warring parties—despite their differences—concurred on exacerbating the suffering of citizens and tightening the siege on their lives?