Defying Oblivion Hadeel Al Yamani | Producer, Al Jazeera News Channel
Two months after our colleague Hamdi Al Bokari was kidnapped in Taiz in early 2016, I arrived in the city to continue our coverage of the war in Yemen. The incident I am about to describe was a turning point in my life which entirely changed my perspective towards Yemen and the daily massacres committed by the Houthi militias and forces loyal to the ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Doha-based editorial department had requested a report on how the residents of the besieged city of Taiz were embracing the upcoming holy month of Ramadan despite the hardships of war.
I checked with my sources to find a story representative of the majority of people in the densely- packed province that had already been declared a ‘disaster area’ by the legitimate government. We came across a host of heart-breaking stories, but found ourselves hindered by logistical problems - from communications to transportation. Then, on the night before the first of Ramadan, Taiz was indiscriminately showered with mortar shells and Katyusha rockets from the Houthis and Saleh’s forces stationed to the east of the city. Nothing was spared; the whole city was shelled mercilessly.
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