Escalated Houthi militia attacks have triggered a new wave of displacement of more than 8,000 people in September alone, said the International Organization for Migration (IMO), sending the total of IDPs up to 70,000 people arriving in Marib governorate during 2020.

The increase in IDPs living in Marib has further swelled pressures on basic services, the IMO said in a statement.

Marib is so densely populated that many IDPs have no choice but to take refuge in shelters that are subpar. Many families are left in need of water, sanitation services and food.

In its statement, the IMO said that it had completed the process of handing over water systems to local communities in six IDP camps in Marib, which provided better access to clean water for more than 12,000 displaced people.

IDPs in Marib are facing many challenges, and their needs are on the rise, the IOM statement read.

IOM-provided water, sanitation and hygiene programs in Marib are now accessible through the support provided by the EU, USAID, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the statement added.

In other news, the Yemeni internationally recognized government denounced the Houthi shelling of civilian neighborhoods in Taiz governorate, which has been cordoned off by militias since 2015.

Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani labeled the heavy-weight attacks waged by the Iran-backed militias against Taiz residents as “criminal.”

He explained that the bombing by the Houthi militia “is targeting residential neighborhoods densely populated with civilians and displaced persons who have begun to return to their homes, and dozens of women and children have been killed and wounded.”

Bombing residential neighborhoods in Taiz, terrorizing civilians, and the siege imposed by the militia on the governorate is part of the Houthi-adopted policy of collective punishment against Yemenis, Eryani explained.

Eryani voiced his surprise towards the international silence over the Houthi committed atrocities in Taiz, and demanded an immediate and effective intervention to bring the attacks and humanitarian violations to a halt.