Life in Yemen under Houthi sniper fire

Celia Hatten (0:00)

This is The Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Celia Hatin, and at 1300 GMT on Tuesday the 6th of October, these are our main stories. The BBC gains rare access to the front lines of the conflict inside Yemen, to the city of Taz that's surrounded by Houthi snipers. More protests in France as students call for more money to be devoted to education. Some of those demonstrations are becoming violent.

Also in this podcast, we'll speak to one of Britain's top space scientists, Dame Dr. Maggie Aderin.

Maggie Aderin (0:38)

They effectively made Hubble some glasses. So they took one of the instruments out, replaced it with this optics that would actually focus the image, and then send it to the other instruments on board.

Celia Hatten (0:50)

The precarious mission to save the Hubble telescope.

Let's begin with the situation in Yemen. Over the last few days, fighting has surged there as government forces began an offensive aimed at recapturing territory from the Houthi rebels. Yemen is in a strategically important spot on the Arabian Peninsula, and its civil conflict is fueled by external interests. The Houthis are backed by Iran, and Yemen's government has support from Saudi Arabia. The government says it's been making significant gains against the Houthis, and we'll have more on that in a moment. But let's get a picture first of how the conflict is affecting people in one of the key battlegrounds, the city of Taz in the southwest. Residents live with the threat of Houthi snipers and artillery around the city.

Our Senior International Correspondent, Nawal Al Maghafi, has recently returned from Taz. A warning, her report contains distressing witness accounts.

Nawal Al Maghafi (1:57)

Dozens of children swarm this schoolyard in Taz city. They're smartly dressed in white and brown uniforms, smiling and laughing together before class. Every day, they risk their life for an education. Beyond the school's perimeter is a no-man's land, and they're playing in the crosshairs of Houthi snipers.

Abd al-Raqib is a maths teacher, but he's also in charge of the school's security. He leads me up onto the roof to show me where the Houthis are hiding.

This is where snipers are located. They have military camps and barracks.

Colleen (2:39)

They have heavy weapons in these areas. The only thing between us and them is this valley.

Nawal Al Maghafi (2:47)

He's just telling me how the school is right on the line of fire. This is government-held territory, and here on my left is Houthi-held territory. And the only thing in the middle is the school. From the rooftop, we can see derelict buildings on the opposite hillside. It's clear just how exposed the school really is.

These children have never known anything but war. Ten years old, Rafeef's arm is scarred by shrapnel.

SPEAKER_5 (3:20)

There was a mortar and we were at home.

Everyone was out except for me and my brother. Then a mortar came out of nowhere. They don't know where from.

Nawal Al Maghafi (3:31)

Did it hit your home, I ask her?

SPEAKER_5 (3:33)

No, right outside, but the shrapnel blew through the door and into the house.

Nawal Al Maghafi (3:41)

Just outside the school gates, bullet holes and shrapnel damage mark the street. Red signs warning of sniper fire are pinned to lampposts. Mounds of dirt and debris are piled high at the end of each street, interrupting the potential view of a Houthi marksman. Taz has long been a battlefield.

Just five minutes away in the hospital's intensive care unit, 11-year-old Amjad is fighting for his life. His heavily bandaged torso is stained with blood. He was working in his uncle's mechanic shop when a mortar struck.

At his bedside, his mother prays, hoping he will make it through the night. Another little boy, 3-year-old Ahmed, was killed in the same attack. Nurse Ikram holds his cream sandals splattered with blood.

Ikram (4:36)

We're always terrified. It's devastating to see children killed.

What did they do? They haven't done anything. It's devastating. He's suddenly hit by a missile in the street, a child who has gone out to play or gone to school.

Nawal Al Maghafi (4:53)

As the city marks the anniversary of Yemen becoming a republic, fireworks drown out the artillery echoing from the mountains.

It's a day the Houthis reject, but thousands of people turn out to celebrate. Ta'z may be a city surrounded by war, but its people refuse to be defeated by it.

Celia Hatten (5:15)

That report was by Nawal Almagafi. Well, a short while ago, Nawal joined us. She told us why the city of Ta'z matters so much to both the Houthis and Yemen's government.

Nawal Al Maghafi (5:27)