Yemen’s army says recaptured key territory as clashes with Houthis continue

Two days of fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters has left dozens dead on both sides, sources say.

Yemen’s army say they have recaptured strategically important territory, as heavy clashes with Houthi rebels continue in the southwest of the country.

Yemeni government forces recaptured al-Khazan and al-Makahna hills in Jabal Habashi district west of Taiz city, according to a statement on Friday.

The clashes between government forces and Houthi fighters continued for the second day in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, two governorates along the Red Sea coast, after the rebel group launched a broad offensive along front lines on the coast.

A Houthi source told Al Jazeera that more than ۱۰۰ fighters have been killed from both sides since the start of the offensive on Thursday.

A Yemeni military official told Al Jazeera that ۲۴ government troops were killed near the west coast, while another military official reported the deaths of ۱۵ others in clashes in Taiz. Medical sources in Houthi-controlled areas reported that at least ۴۲ fighters had been killed.

Several civilians were killed and others injured in a ballistic missile attack that hit a restaurant in the coastal city of al-Makha (Mocha), state-run Saba TV reported. Over ۱۲۰ people were killed in Yemen since the Houthis launched their advance, according to an AFP casualty toll.

Battle for the coast

The Houthis aim to control the hills overlooking Bab al-Mandeb and al-Makha before attacking the coast, a Yemeni official in Aden, the internationally recognised government’s base, told the AFP.

The Houthis captured territories since Thursday mainly in western Taiz including a strategic military base, a government military official told Al Jazeera.

Government military sources said that reinforcements had arrived to counter the Houthi advances in western Taiz, Saba reported.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said that the aim of the Houthi offensive “seems to be gaining territories towards the city and Red Sea port of al-Makha”.

The Houthis controlled the port city of al-Makha, which overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, before being driven out in ۲۰۱۷ by government forces and Saudi-led coalition.

The rebel group declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July.

The Houthis want to use Bab al-Mandeb for “military strategic calculation which experts believe could be meaningful in the wars to come against Saudi Arabia or against Israel”, Mawry added.