Cookies and weapons: Women in Yemen’s Taiz find ways to help the city’s defence

Women in Taiz are supporting government-aligned fighters defending the besieged city. Their work began as community aid, but it now includes fundraising for weapons and ammunition. The effort gives women a way to participate in the city’s defence without generally fighting at the front lines.

Volunteers bake cookies, organise food deliveries, collect donations, and help supply kitchens serving fighters. As the siege tightened, some donors required that part of their contributions pay for ammunition. Activists said social media criticism about shortages among government fighters also encouraged the shift.

The initiatives reflect Taiz’s worsening conditions. Houthi advances have restricted routes into the city and caused shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. The women say they are responding to the danger of the city falling, while supporting soldiers and civilians who want to defend it but lack weapons.

The women’s campaign changed because the military situation around Taiz worsened. It started with cookies, food convoys, and supplies for fighters’ kitchens. These activities strengthened ties between civilians and the forces defending the city, while meeting immediate needs at the front.

As rural districts fell to the Houthis, some donors made contributions conditional. They wanted part of the money used to buy ammunition. Activist Amira al-Saghir also linked the change to social media reports and criticism claiming that government fighters lacked enough ammunition to defend Taiz and nearby front lines.

The result was a broader grassroots effort. Women continued providing food and clothing, but increasingly focused on military equipment. Huriya Wabel said the siege made supplies difficult to deliver and that civilians who wanted to fight alongside the army often had no weapons. The campaign therefore moved from relief toward direct wartime support.

The article does not provide Taiz’s population, physical size, or a percentage of territory controlled by the Houthis. It does describe the city as a government-held provincial capital in southwestern Yemen and as strategically important because it lies near routes leading toward the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

After launching a major offensive, Houthi forces rapidly captured territory along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. They took the strategic port city of Mocha on September 10 and later seized key routes into Taiz’s provincial capital. These gains effectively surrounded the city and restricted movement and supplies.

Control was not complete everywhere. Government forces launched counteroffensives, and control of some areas remained contested. The article therefore supports a description of tightening encirclement and major Houthi advances, but not a precise percentage of Taiz or its surrounding routes under Houthi control.

The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, are an armed group whose name means “Supporters of God” in Arabic. In the conflict described here, they are fighting forces supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government. The article identifies those government forces as Saudi-backed and the Houthis as Iran-backed.

The struggle over Taiz concerns control of the city, its approaches, and surrounding territory. Houthi forces captured parts of the western countryside, advanced along the Red Sea coast, and took Mocha. They then moved toward other parts of Taiz governorate and captured key routes into the provincial capital.

This fighting has effectively surrounded Taiz and restricted essential supplies. Government forces have launched counteroffensives, so some areas remain contested. The article presents the battle as both a local defence of the city and part of a wider regional conflict involving Saudi and Iranian backing.

When Taiz is besieged, civilians lose reliable access to movement and essential supplies. The article specifically reports shortages of food, fuel, and medicine. Restricted routes also make it harder for aid, household goods, and military supplies to enter the city.

The siege followed Houthi advances that captured key routes into Taiz’s provincial capital. The city was effectively surrounded, and women organising support said supplies could no longer reach it easily. Their campaigns therefore tried to help both fighters and the wider community during worsening shortages.

The danger is also personal and immediate. Activist Khadija al-Majidi described residents, including children and family members, as threatened with being killed, captured, or displaced if the city were stormed. Government counteroffensives continue, but contested areas and restricted access leave civilians exposed to prolonged insecurity and deprivation.

Civilians who do not fight can still support people at the front through practical community work. They can organise food, clothing, medicine, transport, fundraising, and communication. These roles connect households and local supporters with fighters and civilians facing shortages.

Taiz provides a clear example. Women volunteers baked cookies, organised food convoys, supported fighters’ kitchens, and collected donations. Later, some fundraising helped buy ammunition. Activists also used social media to encourage participation and draw attention to reported shortages among government forces.

These roles matter because they allow women in a conservative society to participate in what they view as defending their city. The article says most women in Yemen do not actively fight in the civil war. Their involvement instead remains centred on support, though the shift toward weapons shows how humanitarian activity can become tied to military needs during a siege.

A civil war is a sustained armed conflict within a country, usually involving a government and one or more organised groups seeking power or control. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, and the article describes renewed fighting between government forces and the Houthis.

Internal wars can draw in outside powers when foreign governments support local partners. In this conflict, the internationally recognised government’s forces are Saudi-backed, while the Houthis are Iran-backed. Such support can provide money, weapons, political backing, or other assistance, although the article does not detail every form of aid.

Taiz shows why outside involvement matters locally. The city is under pressure from Houthi advances and an effective siege, while government forces conduct counteroffensives. The fighting is therefore both an internal struggle over territory and part of a broader regional contest reflected in Saudi and Iranian support for opposing sides.