开罗讯——胡塞运营的卫生部门周四表示，沙特在也门西部台兹发动的空袭造成至少13人死亡，当地官员称，胡塞叛军对也门城市台兹的围困已将居民推入饥荒。
HAMZA FAHMY CAIRO — A Saudi airstrike in western Taiz killed at least 13 people on Thursday, the Houthi-run health ministry said, as local officials said a siege of the Yemeni city by Houthi rebels has pushed residents into famine.
“该城市正处于饥荒之中，而非濒临饥荒，”台兹省省长纳比勒·沙姆桑在一次简报会上表示，并补充说，他当时距离前线仅一英里。
“The city is in famine, not on the brink of it,” Taiz Gov. Nabil Shamsan said in a briefing, adding that he was speaking a mile away from the front line.
“胡塞武装不能利用对台兹的围困，来为其对平民造成的人道主义灾难辩护，”人权观察组织也门研究员尼库·贾法尔尼亚表示。
“The Houthis cannot use the siege of Taiz to justify the humanitarian catastrophe they are causing civilians,” said Niku Jafarnia, a Yemen researcher for Human Rights Watch.
该组织周四表示，始于10月初的围困可能构成将饥饿作为战争手段的战争罪。
The group said Thursday that the siege, which started in early October, could amount to the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare.
沙姆桑表示，该城市约有100万人口，自胡塞武装夺取其最后一个外部水源后，现在只能获得所需水量的一小部分。烹饪用气已被完全封锁，迫使餐馆关闭，家庭只能烧木柴，而医院为患者供应的氧气也几乎耗尽。
Shamsan said the city, which hosts about 1 million people, now receives only a fraction of the water it needs after Houthi forces seized its last outside source. Cooking gas has been blocked entirely, forcing restaurants to close and families to burn wood, while hospitals have nearly run out of oxygen to supply to patients.
世界粮食计划署表示，无法接触到台兹超过60万依赖人道主义援助的人口，且小麦面粉储备几乎耗尽。沙姆桑表示，自本月初攻势开始以来，已有271人死亡、1129人受伤。
The World Food Program said it could not reach over 600,000 people in Taiz who depend on humanitarian aid, and that wheat flour stocks were nearly exhausted. Shamsan said 271 people have been killed and 1,129 wounded since the offensive began earlier this month.
“即使那些可以被救出的人，他们也会炮击或用狙击手击中救护车。我们不得不使用民用汽车作为救护车——他们也打中了那辆车，”沙姆桑表示。
“Even those who could be rescued, they shell them or hit the ambulance with snipers. We’ve had to use a civilian car as an ambulance - they hit that too,” Shamsan said.
胡塞领导人阿卜杜勒·马利克·胡塞周四驳斥了围困的报道，称其为“沙特捏造的说法”。
Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi on Thursday dismissed reports of a siege as “Saudi-fabricated claims.”
“就食物和人道主义需求而言，道路是畅通的，”他在胡塞运营的马斯里拉电视台的电视讲话中表示，并补充说，他的部队只是切断向他所谓的“沙特支持的民兵”提供武器供应。来自其他战斗地区逃离的人们进一步加剧了压力。据联合国移民机构称，自8月以来，台兹已接收约12.4万名流离失所者。
“As far as food and humanitarian needs are concerned, the way is open,” he said in a televised speech on the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV, adding that his forces were only cutting off weapons supplies to what he called “Saudi-backed militias.”The pressure is compounded by people fleeing the fighting elsewhere. Taiz has taken about 124,000 displaced people since August, according to the U.N. migration agency.
也门于2014年陷入内战，当时胡塞武装夺取了该国北部的大部分地区，包括首都萨那，并迫使国际公认的政府流亡。
Yemen descended into civil war in 2014, when the Houthis seized much of the country’s north, including the capital, Sanaa, and forced the internationally recognized government into exile.
自此，塔伊兹一直是激烈战事的焦点，政府军控制市中心，而胡塞武装掌握周边道路。
Taiz has been a focal point of fighting ever since, with government forces holding the city center while the Houthis control the surrounding roads.