(13 Aug 2020) LEAD IN:
Thousands of residents in the Yemeni city of Taiz are taking to the streets to protest lawlessness in their contested city amid the country's civil war.
STORY-LINE:
Chanting slogans in support of Yemen's internationally recognized government, thousands of protesters took to the streets in the country's third largest city of Taiz on Thursday to march against ongoing fighting in the contested city's streets.
Taiz has seen some of the worst fighting and sieges of the war.
For years, Houthi militias and forces allied with the Saudi-led coalition have been battling over neighborhoods there.
Residents say they've had enough of militias and lawlessness.
"We came out to these streets in order to establish security and stability for the province of Taiz," said protester Ameen al-Khalidi.
The conflict in Yemen began with the 2014 takeover of the capital, Sanaa, by the Shiite Houthi rebels.
A Saudi-led coalition allied with Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi's government has been fighting the Houthis since March 2015.
The fighting in the Arab world's poorest country has killed more than 100,000 people and left millions suffering from lack of food and medical care.
To this day, parts of Taiz remain under the control of Yemen's Houthi rebels and other parts are controlled by those fighting for the Saudi-led coalition.
It has also seen infighting between pro-government factions, and a double layer of siege, enforced by the Houthis locally, and the Saudi-led coalition on the national scale.
Too many innocent civilian residents have paid the price, says another demonstrator.
The fighting is "resulting in the killing of innocent people in the city, who have no dog in this fight," said Mohamed al-Fiqiya, holding a banner in support of Yemen's internationally recognized government.
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