Clashes between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel movement have killed more than ۶۰ people, including civilians, as the Houthis pushed forward with a military offensive on Yemen’s western coast.
Twenty-six government troops and ۳۱ Houthi fighters were killed during several hours of fighting in the country’s south-west on Saturday, medical and military sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). A missile strike also killed six civilians and injured seven others travelling by bus in the city of Taiz.
The killings were the latest in a series of bloody clashes in recent days as the Houthis continued an offensive in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah along the Red Sea coast. On Friday, ۱۲۹ were killed in fighting between rebel and government forces, according to an AFP tally.
The fighting is some of the deadliest in years, after the collapse in July of the ۲۰۲۲ ceasefire. The truce fell apart after an Iranian plane attempted to land in Houthi-controlled Sana’a, triggering attacks by the Yemeni government on the airport.
The Houthis are trying to beat back governmental troops to capture strategic hills overlooking Bab al-Mandeb in order to advance towards port cities on the coast. So far, they have managed to capture areas in western Taiz.
In Taiz, a government military officer said the “coming hours will be decisive” as the Houthis had taken positions near the city a day before. They added that reinforcements had been arriving from Aden to try to stem the Houthi advance.
On Friday, government forces said that they had recaptured the al-Khazan and al-Makahna hills west of Taiz, two strategically important areas for controlling the region.
The Houthis had previously controlled the port city of al-Makha overlooking Bab al-Mandeb, before being pushed out by government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition.
The Bab al-Mandeb strait is a crucial maritime chokepoint for ships heading to the Suez canal. About ۱۰% of global maritime trade passes through the strait. Saudi Arabia has been using the strait to export oil for months after the start of the US-Iran war.
If shipping is disrupted in Bab al-Mandeb, it will only further raise the cost of global goods, which has already rocketed as a result of the virtual closure of the strait of Hormuz since March ۲۰۲۶.
If the Houthis manage to recapture the port city and take key areas along the Red Sea coast, it will help them control naval traffic in the Red Sea. In July, the Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, and they have repeatedly disrupted traffic in solidarity with Gaza since the start of the war there in October ۲۰۲۳.
Yemen has been embroiled in a civil war since ۲۰۱۴, when the Houthis and allied forces took the capital city of Sana’a and pushed the then government out of power. A Saudi-led coalition then began a military intervention to support the Yemeni government and fight the Houthis, a strategic ally of Iran.
At least ۱۵۰,۰۰۰ people in Yemen have been killed in the fighting, and hundreds of thousands more have died from related causes such as hunger and diseases. About ۴.۵ million people have been displaced by the fighting and more than ۱۸.۲ million are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, according to the UN.
