SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties, in partnership with the Abductees Mothers Association and with the support of the DT Institute, inaugurated a memorial for the victims of the Fuel Truck Tragedy in the city of Taiz. The initiative, implemented under the SPARK Project to promote peace in Yemen through reconciliation and knowledge exchange, aims to honor the victims and preserve the memory of civilians who suffered during the years of siege.

The inauguration was attended by Muath Al-Faqih, Sam’s representative in Taiz; Dr. Mahmoud Al-Bakari, Deputy Director of the Office of Social Affairs and Labor; and Mr. Abdullah Jassar, Head of the Committee for Reconciliation and Consensus, along with several human rights activists and families of the victims. Participants expressed their appreciation for this initiative, which preserves the city’s collective memory and honors the victims of one of its most painful humanitarian tragedies.

The Fuel Truck Tragedy dates back to May 25, 2015, when a fuel tanker caught fire in the Al-Dharbah neighborhood after being forced to pass through narrow residential streets due to the siege imposed on the city at the time. The incident resulted in the death and injury of more than 150 civilians, most of them women and children, marking one of the darkest chapters in Taiz’s recent history.

The newly inaugurated memorial stands as a symbolic space to preserve the victims’ memory, commemorate their suffering, and remind future generations of the human cost of the siege — a step that reflects civil society’s commitment to documentation, justice, and the defense of human dignity.