Children brave snipers and mortars to go to school near Yemen front line

Taiz’s school is positioned beside a heavily contested front line in Yemen’s civil war. The valley below is called no-man’s land because opposing forces contest it. Government-held territory lies on one side of the school, while Houthi sniper positions occupy the other. This makes an ordinary school journey a military risk.

Rafeef lives further down the mountain. Each morning, she walks uphill toward school with her back facing the snipers. A security adviser warned visitors that people on the school rooftop could be seen and shot. The school has also been fired on before. The danger is not limited to the road; children may be exposed while entering school, studying, or leaving.

Even so, Rafeef continues attending because school is her only chance to see friends and learn. Her parents allow her outside only for school. The journey shows how fighting has turned basic education into a hazardous daily choice, while families still hope education can provide a better future.

Sniper positions are concealed or protected locations from which trained shooters aim at people or vehicles. Mortars are weapons that fire explosive shells in a high arc, allowing attacks from behind obstacles or from positions that may be out of sight. The article presents both as threats around Taiz’s school and neighborhoods. These definitions use established military knowledge; the article describes their effects rather than explaining the weapons.

Their danger comes from surprise and distance. A sniper may watch a road, rooftop, or hillside and fire when someone becomes visible. A mortar shell can land near civilians without warning, sending shrapnel through buildings and injuring people indoors. Rafeef was hit by shrapnel when a mortar struck outside her home. Another mortar killed three-year-old Ahmed at a mechanic’s shop.

For civilians, there may be no safe route or reliable warning. Residents reported several sniper shootings near Rafeef’s neighborhood. The school’s rooftop was visibly exposed. Such attacks can make homes, streets, workplaces, and classrooms dangerous, even when civilians are not participating in the fighting.

The article gives one precise figure and two broad ones. Unicef says roughly 3.2 million children in Yemen were out of school even before the war escalated last month. It also says thousands of children have been killed or maimed since the war began in 2014. Thousands more have been recruited by armed groups on both sides.

These figures describe different harms. Being out of school removes education and limits children’s daily opportunities. Killing and maiming cause immediate loss, injury, and long-term suffering. Recruitment places children inside armed groups and exposes them to military danger. The article does not combine these categories, so they should not be added together. Some children could potentially appear in more than one category.

The scale shows that Rafeef’s experience is part of a much wider crisis. She continues school despite sniper and mortar risks, but millions of children lack that opportunity. The article provides no newer totals or exact numbers for deaths, injuries, or recruitment, so those figures remain stated only as “thousands.”

The article identifies the Houthis as the Iran-backed side in Yemen’s civil war. They oppose forces supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. It does not provide a fuller description of the Houthis’ religious or political origins, so this answer stays with the roles and aims stated in the text.

The Houthis have held positions around Taiz and attempted to seize the city after taking the capital, Sanaa, in 2015. They recently cut a vital route linking Taiz to Aden, effectively surrounding the city. Their forces also use snipers, mortars, and, in the latest offensive described, drones. These actions help them pressure territory and movement.

Control of Taiz matters because the article says capturing it would give the Houthis full control over Yemen’s north. Government forces were trying to regain ground, including strategic points on the Bab al-Mandab Strait and an offensive toward Sanaa. The struggle therefore affects cities, supplies, shipping routes, and civilians.

A city’s main route carries people, food, fuel, medicine, and other essential supplies. When fighting cuts that route, movement becomes restricted and prices or shortages can worsen. In Taiz, the Houthis cut a vital supply route linking the city to Aden, effectively encircling Taiz. The article says control of the route has kept shifting, so access remains uncertain.

The consequences reach far beyond soldiers. Residents feared the Houthis could seize the city at any moment. Families abandoned homes and fled the fighting. Snipers shot people near Rafeef’s neighborhood, and civilians faced mortar attacks. Schools can become exposed places too: the Taiz school had been fired on, and people on its rooftop could be seen from Houthi positions.

A cut route can therefore isolate a population while battles intensify around it. Government forces were making gains elsewhere and launching an offensive toward Sanaa, but the article gives no resolution for Taiz. Until access is restored or control stabilizes, civilians remain vulnerable and basic services face disruption.

The article gives a brief outline rather than a complete history. It describes a civil war between forces supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis. Saudi Arabia backs the government side, while Iran backs the Houthis. The article says the Houthis ousted the government from the capital, Sanaa, in 2015, turning the struggle into a wider fight for national control.

After taking Sanaa, the Houthis tried to seize Taiz as well. Local militiamen drove them from most of that city, but Taiz remained a major battleground. The government side later made gains near the Bab al-Mandab Strait and launched an offensive to regain Sanaa. Control of routes and strategic locations kept changing as both sides fought.

The article does not explain every earlier political event or the full history of Saudi and Iranian involvement. It does show the result: a local power struggle became an internationalised war. Outside backing strengthened the opposing camps, while civilians faced displacement, school closures, sniper fire, mortar strikes, and recruitment.

A proxy war is a conflict where outside countries support local forces that fight on their behalf or share their interests. Support can include weapons, money, training, intelligence, political backing, or military operations. The article identifies Saudi Arabia as backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government and Iran as backing the Houthis. The term and its general mechanism come from established world knowledge.

External support can strengthen each side’s ability to hold territory and continue fighting. In Yemen, the opposing camps fought over Sanaa, Taiz, supply routes, and strategic points near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The Houthis used snipers, mortars, and drones in the offensive described. Government forces also launched operations to regain territory. These capabilities increase the reach and duration of combat.

The result is greater danger for civilians when battles spread or become harder to end. Taiz residents faced encirclement, shootings, mortar strikes, and abandoned homes. The article does not measure how much foreign support changed the war, but it clearly presents a local conflict shaped by rival outside backing.