More Than 120 Killed in Yemen Clashes as Houthis Push Toward Bab al-Mandab
More Than 120 Killed in Yemen Clashes as Houthis Push Toward Bab al-Mandab
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More than 120 combatants have been killed in some of Yemen’s deadliest fighting in years after Houthi forces launched a major offensive along the Red Sea coast and in the Taiz region, according to military and medical sources.
The fighting began Thursday when Houthi forces launched coordinated ground attacks supported by rocket and drone strikes against government positions in southern Hodeidah and western Taiz. Military sources said the offensive appeared aimed at cutting off the government-held port city of Mokha from other government-controlled areas and advancing toward territory near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.
According to figures provided to AFP, at least 66 government forces and allied fighters had been killed, while medical and security sources in Houthi-controlled areas reported at least 62 deaths among Houthi fighters. A separate earlier tally had put the number of confirmed combatant deaths at 81. The conflicting figures reflect the difficulty of independently verifying casualties during the ongoing fighting.
Government forces have reported some battlefield gains. Yemeni troops said they recaptured strategic hilltop positions in Jabal Habashi, west of Taiz, while reinforcements were deployed to the front lines in an effort to halt further Houthi advances. The Houthis have reportedly seized several elevated positions overlooking government-held areas near the Red Sea and Taiz.
The offensive is considered the most significant escalation along these front lines since the UN-brokered truce of April 2022. The Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, is a strategically important international shipping route.
Yemen has remained divided after more than a decade of conflict between the Houthi movement and forces aligned with the internationally recognized government. The latest escalation has raised renewed concerns about a wider deterioration in the country’s fragile security situation.
