Yemeni army strikes Houthi forces in Taiz amid escalation

Yemeni government forces carried out nine airstrikes on Tuesday targeting Houthi fighters and military equipment in the southwestern Taiz province as escalation continues to rage across the country, according to the army.

The Taiz Military Axis Media Centre said warplanes belonging to the Yemeni armed forces carried out five strikes in the Al-Dhabab area and four others in Al-Misrakh district.

The strikes targeted Houthi personnel and military equipment, the centre said.

It added that clashes were also ongoing between government forces and Houthi fighters on the Al-Shaqab front south of Taiz. The military did not provide details on casualties or damage.

Meanwhile, the Taiz office of Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry said in a statement late on Monday that six civilians, including a girl, were killed and others were injured in Houthi shelling that struck densely populated villages in rural Taiz on Sunday.

Read: Saudi warning system stayed silent before deadly airport attacks

In Taiz city, the office said 17 civilians, including five women and six children, were injured and seven homes were damaged in Houthi shelling over the previous 24 hours.

The office did not specify the nature or severity of the injuries or the extent of the damage

Early Tuesday, the non-governmental Taiz Human Rights Centre accused the Houthis of shelling the area around Al-Safwa Hospital, a private facility in central Taiz city.

It said a shell landed near the hospital, causing material damage to patient rooms and frightening patients and medical staff.

Thousands displaced

Amid the continuing escalation, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday evening that 216,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since August, including more than 172,000 from Taiz province.

The UN and humanitarian partners have so far reached around 143,000 people with emergency assistance, including food, hygiene supplies and cash support, the agency said.

On Saturday, local authorities in Taiz warned that the Houthis have tightened their siege on the province, threatening the lives, security and livelihoods of more than 6 million residents.

The Yemeni army launched Operation “Dawn of Yemen” last week, aimed at restoring state institutions and ending Houthi control of the capital Sanaa.

The developments are part of a military escalation that began in July, the most extensive since the relative calm that followed a UN-brokered truce that began in April 2022.

Yemen has been engulfed in war since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several of the country’s 22 provinces in September 2014, prompting an Arab coalition led by neighbouring Saudi Arabia to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.

The Houthis fully control most northern and western provinces, including Sanaa, Saada, Amran, Dhamar, Al Hudaydah, Ibb, Al Mahwit and Raymah, while maintaining partial control over parts of Hajjah, Al-Bayda, Marib, Al-Jawf, Al-Dhalea and Taiz.

Read more: Saudi Arabia rejects Israeli bid to join fight against Houthis: Israeli media

Government forces and their allies control the interim capital Aden, the eastern provinces of Al-Mahra and Hadramout, the southern provinces of Shabwa and Abyan, most of Lahj and Al-Dhalea, and parts of Taiz, Marib, Al-Jawf, Hajjah and Saada.

Yemen military shoot down Saudi drone

The Yemeni military said its air defence units intercepted and shot down a Saudi unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the airspace over the country’s northwestern Sa’ada province.

Spokesman for the Yemeni military, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Tuesday morning that the Yemeni armed forces detected and targeted an armed Wing Loong II reconnaissance drone belonging to the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), using an appropriate weapon.

The development came shortly after the Yemeni army successfully targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, in a new ballistic missile strike.