Yemeni forces say Houthi attack repelled in Taiz amid escalation

Military escalation continues for days after the Yemeni government announced it is attacking Houthi positions.

Yemeni government forces have thwarted an attack by the Houthis on positions along the al‑Mafalis front, south of Haifan, in the southeastern part of Taiz province, as military escalation spikes in several governorates.

An official of the Tor al‑Bahah military axis, which is affiliated with government forces, on Thursday said the army’s 4th Infantry Hashd Brigade repelled a Houthi attack on positions on the al‑Mafalis front, adding that “the terrorist Houthi militias suffered heavy losses.”

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The official said a joint military and security campaign in Tor al‑Bahah is aimed at “repelling and foiling the attack by the enemy Houthi militias”, adding that the rebel group would face defeat and collapse.

A spokesman for the government forces, Waddah al‑Dubeish, said their air defences had engaged reconnaissance drones belonging to the Houthis in the skies over al-Makha (Mocha) in the southwest of the country.

Rapid escalation

On Wednesday, the Yemeni government announced it had attacked Houthi positions and gatherings with artillery shelling and drones in several governorates.

Yemeni state television said several Houthi fighters were killed and wounded in artillery shelling by government forces against the group’s gatherings and reinforcements around al‑Fakhir market in the northern part of al‑Dhalea Governorate, killing and wounding several members of the group.

German news agency dpa quoted Yemen’s deputy minister of information, Fayyad al‑Numan, as saying that government forces carried out “intensive shelling with heavy artillery and drones on positions belonging to Houthi militias on several fronts” on Wednesday.

The head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al‑Alimi, said, “From now on, there will be no action undertaken by the Houthi militias without a comprehensive response or deterrence.”

Al‑Alimi added that the government is “not in favour of a new truce that reproduces past experiences”, noting that it supports a permanent and sustainable peace based on the existence of a state that alone monopolises weapons and sovereignty.

“The opportunity remains available to lay down arms and engage in building a homeland that can accommodate everyone,” he said.

Since April 2022, Yemen has witnessed a relative de‑escalation in the war between government forces and the Houthi group, but intermittent clashes between the two sides resumed in early July, resulting in dozens of dead and wounded.

Reporting from Al Jazeera contributed to this story.