The Iran-backed Houthi group has intensified attacks across several fronts in Yemen, striking civilian areas and facilities in Taiz as government forces said they had repelled assaults and infiltration attempts in Taiz, Shabwa and Dhale and inflicted losses on the group.
Military and local sources said the Houthis had attacked military positions and civilian areas in several locations in recent hours, pointing to a widening of fighting across multiple fronts.
In the southwestern province of Taiz, Houthi mortar fire struck a mosque and a school in Maqsab village in the al-Atqa area of Mawza district, damaging both buildings but causing no casualties, local sources said.
The attack on the mosque came hours after the Houthis shelled al-Jeel al-Jadeed school in the same area.
The sources said the strikes were part of continuing Houthi attacks on places of worship, schools, civilian facilities and residential neighborhoods in the province.
On the northeastern front of Taiz city, the Houthis shelled government positions at Tabbat al-Wakeel and Tabbat al-Mawshki with medium weapons and projectiles, causing no casualties among the troops, a military source was quoted by Yemen’s Saba news agency as saying.
Government forces returned fire on Houthi positions near the Sofitel and International Hospital sites, silencing the sources of fire as clashes continued.
Fighting spreads across fronts
Clashes also spread to the Hayfan front southeast of Taiz, where the two sides fought in Ayrim, al-Mafalis, Tabbat Saeed Taha, al-Abliya and al-Manzara with light, medium and heavy weapons.
Local and military sources said government forces repelled a Houthi attack and forced the fighters to retreat, while continuing to target their firing positions. The forces said they remained ready for further attacks.
In Shabwa province, government troops thwarted Houthi attacks and infiltration attempts on fronts in Harib, Ain, Bayhan and Upper Markha districts.
A military source said forces deployed in the province foiled the infiltration attempts and inflicted losses in personnel and equipment. Government drones then struck Houthi positions and reinforcements in response, the source said.
In Dhale province, artillery fire hit Houthi gatherings and reinforcements near al-Fakher market west of Qataba as the fighters prepared to attack government positions, killing or wounding a number of them. Drone strikes also targeted the reinforcements.
Houthi media report 84 dead in a week
Houthi media acknowledged the deaths of 84 fighters over roughly a week, including 28 field commanders, in an indication of the scale of the group’s reported losses.
The toll included 47 fighters whose funerals were held over two days, among them 14 officers.
Forty of those reported killed were from Sanaa province, while others came from Dhamar, Amran, Hajjah, Saada, Mahwit and Ibb.
The figures announced by Houthi media suggest the losses extended into the group’s field command and were spread across several areas under its control.
The escalation comes as Rashad al-Alimi, Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, said the state’s position toward the Houthis had changed and that any attack by the group would face a coordinated response and deterrence.
Al-Alimi said the armed forces were now operating through a single operations room and were better prepared to protect civilians, facilities and national institutions.
He said the state’s strategic goal was to restore its institutions and end the coup.
Al-Alimi said the government’s experience over recent years had shown that the Houthis used truces to rebuild their military capabilities and prepare for renewed fighting.
The government, he said, did not want another truce that repeated previous experiences, but a lasting peace based on a state that held sole authority over arms and sovereignty.
He said Houthi attacks on oil facilities and international shipping, along with threats to regional security, had helped shift international perceptions of the group.
The international question, in his view, was increasingly how to protect the Yemeni state, waterways and international peace and security rather than merely how to accommodate the Houthis.
Al-Alimi said the most significant military development was the growing unity and coordination among the fronts, citing simultaneous activity in Marib, Taiz, Shabwa, Dhale, Lahj, Hajjah, Saada and elsewhere.
He urged Yemen’s armed forces to protect civilians and respect the law, saying the strength of the state rested not only on weapons but also on the values and institutions it sought to restore.
Addressing the Houthis, Al-Alimi said the group still had an opportunity to lay down its weapons, enter political life and compete through the ballot box.
Yemen, he said, had room for everyone under the authority of the state and the law.
