Yemenis struggle traveling on vital Taiz road

Описание: (28 Jan 2020) LEAD IN:
Yemenis are struggling to travel to and from the besieged city of Taiz.
The only road that connects the city to areas controlled by Houthi rebels is bumpy and rough.

STORY-LINE:
Mohammed Ali is trying to help Yemeni passengers make their way through this road.
The Akroad road is considered the gate to the city of Taiz in Yemen. It leads directly to areas controlled by the Houthi rebels.
Hundreds of four-wheel cars and trucks, loaded with people and good, pass through this road every day.
Their original route, Ali says, used to take five minutes but now it takes hours.
"This (road) has been bumpy for the past five years. Most people suffer now, unlike before, when their route was through Al-Hubban (an area controlled by the Houthi rebels), the distance used to take five minutes. Now it takes a day or even days on this bumpy road (while) we are trying to fix it," he says.
Ali also provides instructions to drivers and passers-by to avoid any danger or obstacles.
Slowly making their way, drivers, who mostly use utility vehicles, often queue to let others go due to the narrow passage.
Salah Ahmed who was driving on Akroad road says that if a patient was among the passengers, they would die before reaching the hospital.
"We now have a sick elderly woman who has become tired and got bruises due to the rough road," he says.
Akroad road, which is about 90 km, was taken as an emergency route during the war, instead of the main road that was closed by both sides of the conflict.
Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been convulsed by war since Houthi rebels seized the capital and ousted Hadi's government in 2014.
"There is a party that benefits from the blockade situation (of Taiz), the state of war and the increase in prices, as well as the issue of military support and supplies," says Yemeni journalist Ahmed Shawqi.
"For us, the blockade of Taiz causes many problems. Unfortunately, no one cares about this situation," Shawqi adds.
The conflict in Yemen set off one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, killing over 10,000 people, displacing more than 3 million and pushing the country to the brink of famine.

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