How hunger is devastating Yemen’s children

Every morning at 6am, 10-year-old Rafeef and her younger brother prepare for school, dressing in their cream and brown uniforms. She eagerly anticipates seeing her friends and learning various subjects, with her sights set on learning English next year. However, Rafeef's journey to school in Taiz, Yemen, is fraught with danger. The school sits atop a mountain, overlooking a contested valley known as no-man's land, where government forces support by Saudi Arabia face the Iran-backed Houthis.

On one side of the school lies government territory, while Houthi sniper positions occupy the other. Rafeef's home is further down the mountain, and every time she attends school, she must walk uphill with her back to the snipers. Rafeef expresses her fear, stating, "I'm afraid."

According to Unicef, around 3.2 million children in Yemen were out of school before the war intensified last month. Since the conflict began in 2014, thousands of children have been killed or disabled, and thousands more have been recruited by armed groups on both sides. Despite the risks, Rafeef insists she will not stop attending school, as she enjoys the company of her friends and it is her sole opportunity to interact with them.

Her parents encourage her education and hope she will achieve a better life. Rafeef aspires to become a doctor.

Rafeef's family relocated to Taiz from the coastal city of Hudaydah nine years ago, seeking refuge when the Houthis took control there. Two years ago, a mortar attack occurred outside her new home, shrapnel piercing the door and entering the house, leaving her with a broken arm and a scar. In recent days, the conflict has worsened.

On Sunday, the Houthis severed a key supply route linking Taiz to Aden, effectively surrounding the city. Control of this route has been shifting, causing residents to fear the Houthis may seize Taiz at any moment. Government forces have gained ground in other areas, retaking strategic points on the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial shipping chokepoint, and launching an offensive to regain control of the capital, Sanaa.

Yemeni military reports securing the Red Sea waterway. Homes in Taiz are primarily dispersed across the slopes, with many abandoned by families fleeing the fighting. The community leader advises against visiting the neighborhood where Rafeef and her family reside due to safety concerns; multiple sniper shootings have occurred there.

At Rafeef's school, one teacher, Abdel Raqeeb al-Obaidi, takes us to the rooftop to show Houthi military camps, barracks, and sniper positions in the mountains. However, a Yemeni security adviser warns us to retreat indoors, as we are visible from these positions and could be targeted. Abdel Raqeeb acknowledges the danger and states that the school has been fired upon before. He emphasizes the uncertainty of their future, as they never know what tomorrow holds.

Government forces have long battled in Taiz, with the Houthis attempting to seize control of the city in 2015 but being driven out by local militia. Now, in their latest offensive, the Houthis employ drones alongside conventional weapons, sometimes causing collateral damage to civilians. Later that evening, a hospital call is received from a facility five minutes away from the school.

Two children have sustained severe injuries from a mortar strike. When we arrive at Al-Rawdah Hospital, a nurse holding a blood-stained pair of sandals belonging to a three-year-old boy named Ahmed greets us. Ahmed was killed when a piece of shrapnel entered his heart, piercing his back. He had been with his father, who was filling his motorcycle tire at a mechanic's shop, while the father remained unharmed.

The father asks how he will explain the loss of his son to the boy's mother. Another child, 11-year-old Amjad, was also at the mechanic's shop, where he and his brother worked with their uncle. Shrapnel struck Amjad in his lung and abdomen. As his mother arrives at the hospital at 06:00 the following morning, the doctor fears he may die within hours.