Yemeni Army Retakes Strategic Positions Amid Escalating Clashes with Houthis

Taiz: The Yemeni army has recaptured positions in Taiz and Al-Hudaydah governorates during clashes with the Houthis that left more than 20 members of the group killed or wounded, the military announced. According to TRTworld.com, the Yemeni Armed Forces Media Centre stated that government troops conducted large-scale operations across several combat fronts, regaining lost positions, securing new high ground, and repelling hostile infiltration attempts. The official statement detailed that the army launched a three-pronged offensive along the Al-Barh front earlier on Sunday, recaptured positions in Al-Kadha west of Taiz, and consolidated newly secured positions south of Al-Hudaydah. Government forces subsequently repulsed a Houthi infiltration manoeuvre on the Al-Dhabab front, also west of Taiz. The army confirmed that the intense engagements inflicted substantial losses on the Houthis' military equipment. Yemeni warplanes carried out coordinated air strikes targeting Houthi positions in Al-Barh, southern A l-Hudaydah, and the western outskirts of Marib province. Further aerial bombardments struck Houthi gatherings and defensive positions in Al-Labanat, Al-Alam, and Al-Jawf governorate, with the military reporting heavy personnel casualties and equipment damage among Houthi ranks. Yemen had experienced a relative lull in fighting since April 2022, following nearly 12 years of protracted war between government forces-backed by a Saudi-led coalition-and the Iranian-backed Houthis, who seized the capital, Sanaa, and large swathes of the country in 2014. Since late 2023, after the war in Gaza began, the Houthis have become increasingly entangled in wider regional hostilities, staging attacks against Israel and international commercial shipping lanes across the Red Sea. The recent escalation and renewed clashes on the ground have heightened concerns over a collapse of the truce and a return to full-scale warfare across Yemen.