Yemeni forces clash with Houthis across four provinces in major escalation

Fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group escalated Wednesday across four western provinces including Taiz, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhale and Al-Hudaydah, leaving several civilians dead and marking the most widespread military confrontation since a UN-brokered truce collapsed earlier this year.

Heavy fighting reported

The government-aligned Giants Brigades said in a statement that its forces carried out "precise strikes" against gatherings of Houthi fighters on the western coast, according to Anadolu Agency, and released footage showing vehicles and fighters being targeted. The forces also said they destroyed a Houthi vehicle in Al-Bayda province, killing everyone inside, and shot down a Houthi drone on the same front Tuesday evening, while the government-run provincial media office in Al-Hudaydah reported that two civilians from the villages of Dar al-Harbi and Mahwa Yassin were killed by Houthi mortar fire in Hays district.

Government repels advances

In Taiz province, government forces repelled a Houthi advance toward Al-Wazi'iyah district, district chief Ali al-Dhrafi told the government-aligned 2 December news agency, praising local residents for standing alongside government forces and saying they would not allow the Houthis to retake the district near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman al-Lahji, commander of the government-aligned Nation's Shield Forces, arrived in Mokha with reinforcements for active fronts as government forces in southwestern Al-Dhale province repelled a Houthi attack in the Murais area before launching a counterattack, state-run Yemen TV reported.

Regional spillover

The escalation has spilled into neighboring Saudi Arabia, where authorities said Tuesday that Houthi attacks targeting civilian and economic sites in the southwestern cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran injured 73 civilians, including women and children. The Houthis claimed they targeted facilities belonging to Saudi energy company Aramco and an air base with ballistic missiles and drones, escalating a conflict that began when the group seized Sanaa in September 2014 and has intensified since a Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 and the 2022 truce expired.