Water rationing, rubbish pile-up raise disease fears in Yemen’s besieged Taiz

By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA/TAIZ, Yemen Oct 21 (Reuters) Families have started rationing water in and around Yemen s Taiz city, where renewed fighting has disrupted fuel supplies and access to water systems serving 3 million people, aid groups and UN agencies said. Meanwhile, mounting piles of rubbish along major roads are raising fears of disease outbreaks in the ​city, Yemen s third-largest. Fighting between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-allied Houthi group since September has cut key supply ‌routes, including the Taiz-Aden corridor, worsening shortages of water, food and fuel in and around the city. The lack of fuel is hampering the operation of water pumps and hospitals, while disruption to waste collection has left rubbish piled along roads of the city, a stronghold of anti-Houthi forces which is now under siege by the armed movement. The Taiz governorate hosts nearly half of the 250,000 people displaced by the latest escalation, aid groups said. The state of the ‌r