Human Rights Watch: A Houthi attack on a vital road to Taiz may amount to a war crime

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Human Rights Watch said that the Houthi group used explosives on October 18 to cause severe damage to the Haijat al-Abd Road, which represents a main corridor for supplying the Yemeni city of Taiz with food, medicine, and fuel, warning that targeting infrastructure necessary for the survival of civilians may constitute a war crime.

The organization added, in a report issued on Monday, that the attack damaged a ferry on the road in the Al-Turbah area, about 75 kilometers south of the city of Taiz, which has been besieged by the Houthis since 2015.

The organization quoted its Yemen and Bahrain researcher, Nico Jafarnia, as saying that the attack exacerbates the risks facing civilians in the city, who suffer from an acute shortage of food, water, medicine and fuel, warning that the continued road blockage may threaten their lives and living conditions.

According to the investigation, the organization spoke to eight knowledgeable sources about two attacks that targeted the road and their repercussions. It also verified photos and video clips, determined their geographical locations, and analyzed satellite images that showed damage consistent with the detonation of explosives under the surface of the road.

The organization pointed to another attack that occurred on October 1, targeting a ferry on the Haijat al-Abd road near the village of Muharraq.

She said that local sources reported that forces believed to be affiliated with the Houthis planted explosives under the road and detonated them.

The report added that government forces regained the area that witnessed the first attack, and filled the damaged part with dirt to allow vehicles to pass, before security concerns and clashes led to restricting movement on the roads leading into and out of Taiz.

The organization warned of the humanitarian repercussions of the continued obstruction of the road, noting that the World Food Program said on October 14 that it was unable to reach more than 600,000 people in Taiz who depend on humanitarian aid, and that wheat flour stocks in the city were almost exhausted.

Human Rights Watch said that international humanitarian law prohibits the use of starvation of civilians as a method of war, and it also prohibits attacking, destroying, or disabling objects indispensable to their survival. She explained that whether a road attack is considered a violation of this ban depends on whether it was carried out with the intention of depriving civilians of access to the needs necessary for their survival.

It added that the attack may also constitute a violation of the laws of war if the expected harm to civilians is disproportionate to the expected concrete and direct military advantage.

The organization said that it wrote to the Houthis on October 21 about the attacks on the road, but did not receive a response.