Yemeni warplanes strike Houthi targets in Taiz as clashes intensify

Yemeni government warplanes carried out nine airstrikes against Houthi fighters and military hardware in the southwestern province of Taiz on Tuesday, the army said. The strikes hit positions in Al-Dhabab and Al-Misrakh districts as clashes intensified along the Al-Shaqab front south of the provincial capital, according to the Taiz Military Axis Media Center.

Civilian casualties rise

Six civilians, including a child, were killed in Houthi artillery strikes on densely populated villages in rural Taiz on Sunday, Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry said in a statement. Another 17 civilians—five women and six children among them—were injured and seven homes damaged in Taiz city over the previous 24 hours, the ministry added, noting that shells also landed near Al-Safwa Hospital in central Taiz, frightening patients and staff.

Displacement crisis deepens

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported Monday that approximately 216,000 people have been displaced across Yemen since August, including more than 172,000 from Taiz province. Emergency assistance has reached roughly 143,000 of those affected, the agency said, as local authorities warned that the Houthi siege threatens over 6 million residents in the province.

Major offensive underway

The Yemeni army launched Operation “Dawn of Yemen” last week to restore state institutions and end Houthi control of Sanaa, marking the most significant escalation since a UN-brokered truce took effect in April 2022. Government forces control Aden and much of southern Yemen, while the Houthis hold Sanaa and most northern provinces after seizing the capital in September 2014.