A young man was killed early Monday in a drone strike in the Al-Waziya district of western Taiz, in an attack attributed to the National Resistance Forces led by Presidential Leadership Council member Tariq Saleh, according to local sources, in an incident that has sharply escalated tensions in the area.

 

The victim, identified as Burhan Ali Taha, was inside a guard room near his home in the village of Hina when the strike occurred, residents said. He was the son of a local commander who had taken part in battles against Houthi forces in 2016. The strike followed clashes between Saleh’s forces and tribal gunmen near a security checkpoint in the district.

 

The incident comes amid a broader military campaign carried out by Saleh’s forces, which are based along Yemen’s western coast, targeting armed tribal groups led by a local figure known as Ahmed Salem. Residents describe Salem as an influential figure accused of involvement in arms trafficking, while others view the campaign as an extension of efforts to assert control over the district by force.

 

Tensions in Al-Waziya date back to March 21, when tribal fighters detained members of the National Resistance Forces on suspicion of an assassination plot. The detentions followed an earlier motorcycle ramming incident in which Salem was believed to have been the intended target. Although tribal mediation secured the release of the detainees, clashes soon resumed after they passed through a security checkpoint, plunging the area into a cycle of escalating violence.

 

Residents reported that government-aligned forces have carried out sweeping raids across several villages, including Hina al-Gharbiya, Hina al-Sufla, al-Ghail and al-Hadara. The operations involved home raids, arrests, and the pursuit of a wounded man into a hospital, where he was detained and later died. Locals also said that schools and health facilities had been converted into military positions, movement restrictions imposed, and shops closed, forcing some families to flee.

 

Reinforcements have reportedly arrived from the coastal city of Mocha, accompanied by the deployment of snipers in elevated positions. Tribal leaders from the Mashawla tribes have held emergency meetings, while some soldiers were said to have withdrawn from the area with their families, underscoring growing fears of a wider confrontation.

 

Al-Waziya holds strategic importance as a link between Yemen’s western coast and the mountainous areas of Taiz, making it a sensitive point in the struggle for military influence. Saleh’s forces have sought to secure supply routes and assert control over key transit corridors along the coast.

 

This is not the first time the district has witnessed such escalation. Over recent years, residents say, repeated security campaigns by the same forces have been framed as efforts to impose stability, but are widely perceived locally as attempts to consolidate control in the absence of a unified national military structure.

 

Local accounts suggest that the current crisis is part of a longer pattern of instability dating back to 2021, when what residents refer to as the "Mocha authority" assumed control over the district’s security file. Since then, periodic flare-ups have fueled accusations of deliberate mismanagement designed to keep the area in a state of chronic unrest.

 

Tribal leaders have condemned what they described as a "brutal campaign," accusing the forces of committing violations against civilians, including intimidation and abuses targeting women and children. They warned of a potential general mobilization if the military operations continue.

 

Residents described the situation as an undeclared state of emergency, calling for an immediate halt to the escalation to prevent the district from sliding into a broader conflict amid rising tribal tensions and fears of a security breakdown.

 

Amid the deteriorating conditions, local residents have issued an urgent appeal to Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, calling for immediate intervention to stop the escalation and prevent a humanitarian disaster.

 

Their demands include halting military reinforcements, removing armed presence from villages and schools, and forming an independent high-level investigation committee with full legal authority to examine alleged violations and conflicts in Al-Waziya since October 2021. Residents also called for scrutiny of the role of authorities based in Mocha, whom they accuse of orchestrating policies that fuel division and weaken tribal cohesion.

 

The Yemeni Socialist Party in Al-Waziya also condemned what it described as "grave violations," including civilian casualties, arbitrary detentions, and the closure of public facilities, holding the responsible parties accountable and urging the political leadership to act swiftly to protect civilians and restore state institutions.

 

Observers warn that the continuation of this escalation reflects a deeper structural problem tied to the fragmentation of armed formations and the delayed integration of forces into a unified national framework. Such conditions make any security friction liable to spiral into a broader conflict, placing areas like Al-Waziya at the center of a fragile equation that threatens the stability of Taiz and the western coast alike.