A Yemeni man uses a self-made device to raise his smartphone higher to reach signal towers' coverage on Aug. 6, 2022, as the country's civil war destroyed all signal towers in Midi District in the Yemeni province of Hajjah. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)
HAJJAH, Yemen, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- After the civil war in Yemen destroyed communication towers, residents in Midi district in the northwestern province of Hajjah have to install small cell phone signal boosters up to 10 meters on wooden poles in order to make phone calls.
And this is how Sultan Jarbhi strengthens his cell phone's signal. After erecting a wooden pole in the yard of his house, the young man put a phone signal booster device in a plastic bag, tied a rope around it, and lifted it high to the top of the pole using a pulley until it picked up the phone network signal.
"This is the only way for us to communicate and share messages and photos with our relatives and friends in other cities. We have endured isolation for more than five years due to the destruction of communication towers during the war," Gerbhi told Xinhua.
Due to the destruction of communication towers, it took a week for Youssef Musa, another citizen in Midi, to learn that his uncle, who lived in the southwest city of Taiz, had passed away.
"I am still very sad about not being able to talk to him when he was unwell, and now I'm worried about my ailing mother who is there. Because of the poor phone signal, I've tried to call her ended up in vain," he said.
The poor telephone service in Taiz and Midi has demonstrated how the civil war in Yemen has affected the lives of its people.
The war in Yemen erupted in late 2014 after the Iranian-backed Houthi group swept and took control of several northern provinces, forcing the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of the capital Sanaa.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed thousands of homes, displaced 4 million and pushed the country to the brink of famine.
The United Nations is making efforts to end the war in Yemen and reach reconciliation and a political settlement between the warring parties. This year, it enforced a truce in Yemen for the first time on April 2 and was renewed for two months on June 2, and then succeeded in extending it for an additional two months on August 2.
A Yemeni man uses a self-made device to raise his smartphone higher to reach signal towers' coverage on Aug. 6, 2022, as the country's civil war destroyed all signal towers in Midi District in the Yemeni province of Hajjah. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)
A Yemeni man holds his smartphone to search for signals on Aug. 6, 2022, as the country's civil war destroyed all signal towers in Midi District in the Yemeni province of Hajjah. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua)
A Yemeni man holds his smartphone to search for signals as all signal towers in his district were destroyed by the country's civil war in Midi District, in Hajjah province, Yemen, on Aug. 6, 2022. (Photo by Mohammed Al-Wafi/Xinhua) ■
