Yemeni army says nearly 500 Houthis 'neutralized' in 24 hours

Yemen's army spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili said Sunday that government forces had "neutralized" nearly 500 Houthi fighters and field commanders during 1,272 operations conducted over the previous 24 hours, destroying or damaging 169 vehicles, pieces of equipment and heavy weapons. In a statement posted on the social media platform X, al-Nuzaili said the attacks targeted Houthi positions, reinforcements, fortifications, firing positions and supply routes as part of the ongoing Operation Dawn of Yemen.

The operations supported ground advances and the recapture of positions on the Al-Jawf front in northern Yemen, the spokesman added, noting that government forces were also pressing ahead with offensives in Marib, Al-Bayda, Lahj and Taiz provinces. In Taiz, army troops and allied Popular Resistance fighters were battling the Houthis with support from warplanes, drones and artillery, while earlier reports indicated that government air defenses had downed two Houthi drones and conducted airstrikes on the group's positions in Al-Misrakh district, south of the city.

Civilian toll and strategic gains

The Interior Ministry separately said a Houthi drone strike on a home in western Taiz had killed a woman and a girl and wounded another woman, while al-Nuzaili stated that forces were taking strict precautions to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure during the fighting. Government forces announced Saturday that they had secured the strategic Huwayshian mountain range in al-Jawf, which they characterized as a critical forward defensive line for the Houthi-held provincial capital, al-Hazm.

Since Oct. 5, Yemeni government forces have launched Operation Dawn of Yemen with the stated aim of restoring state institutions from Houthi control and eventually retaking the capital, Sanaa. A military escalation between government forces and the Houthis resumed in July, killing and wounding thousands and displacing more than a quarter of a million people, according to UN reports, ending a period of relative calm that had prevailed since April 2022. Yemen has been at war since the Houthis seized Sanaa in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.