The town of Tor Al-Baha, described by its governor Ulwan Al-Atri as the first line of defence for the temporary capital Aden, is suffering from poverty, unemployment and a lack of food after violent military confrontations between Popular Resistance forces and the rebels have been ongoing since the beginning of last year.

Tor Al-Baha is now dripping with the blood of Popular Resistance fighters who sacrificed their lives to stop Houthi militias and rebel forces from advancing. Rebel militias are stationed in Al-Qabita and Hayfan which are on the town’s northern border and they seek to reach the centre of the town which is only a few kilometres away from these locations. However, the militias are being faced with fierce resistance from the Popular Resistance in Tor Al-Baha.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the governor of Tor Al-Baha Ulwan Al-Atri said that the town is the “first line of defence for the interim capital Aden” as Tor Al-Baha’s border with the province of Taiz starts with the Al-Anad airbase border in the east and ends with the Al-Utayrah area in the west. He continued by saying that the continuation of the war and its duration has caused economic collapse and a rise in unemployment and begging. The situation of citizens is bordering on a humanitarian catastrophe in the absence of employment opportunities, salaries that have been delayed for several months and the collapse of the currency. The disappearance of petroleum products has caused the collapse of workshops, transport vehicles being taken out of service and the disruption of irrigation systems used on farms.