Besieged Taiz Mothers Scavenge as 800,000 Lose Aid

Two displaced mothers and their children are struggling to survive in besieged Taiz, Yemen, after fleeing fighting in the nearby village of al-Sayahi. They shelter in a damaged, open building covered with tarpaulins, without adequate blankets or protection from the cold. Once vegetable sellers, Fatima Abdullah Qassem and Intizar Ahmed Saeed now collect plastic bottles to sell, but the meager earnings do not cover their families’ food needs. The latest clashes and blockade have cut off much of the city, restricting aid and leaving many civilians trapped; Qassem’s family has also endured years of loss, including the death of one of her sons in a land-mine explosion.