Full story
Taiz–al-Mokha front flares
Fierce clashes erupted between Yemeni government forces and Houthi fighters across several fronts west of Taiz province, as the Iran-backed group launched a broad offensive along the western Red Sea coast.
“In order to do that, they must drive out Yemeni government forces”
Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said taking control of the port city of al-Makha (Mocha) would cut off government forces from a strategic supply route and give Houthis a foothold in the Red Sea, adding, “In order to do that, they must drive out Yemeni government forces.”
Yemen’s Army Media Centre said Houthis fired 14 ballistic missiles and launched drones at populated districts in the provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, and it said more than 18 Houthi fighters were killed as they clashed with Yemeni forces on Thursday.
An unnamed military source told AFP that 13 government forces were killed in the fighting, with another military source saying most of those killed were on the front lines between al-Makha and Taiz.
A field officer in al-Makha told AFP his men were “fighting fiercely to repel the massive Houthi offensive,” while he said they also thwarted an attack with two booby-trapped boats that exploded near the port.
Competing casualty narratives
The fighting and missile exchanges were accompanied by competing accounts of battlefield gains and losses, with Al-Hal Net describing government forces advancing after clashes began with Houthi infiltration attempts toward positions in the Al-Hutoub, Al-Tawir, Al-Kadhah, and Gebari Mountain sectors in Muqbanah District.
Al-Hal Net said the military’s media center reported forces thwarted infiltration attempts and made advances in several locations, while the center said the clashes “neutralized more than 18 Houthi elements,” wounded others, and captured a number of them.
At the same time, Al-Hal Net reported a field account conveyed by journalist Fares Al-Hamiri that the Houthi group managed during their nighttime assault to seize sites in the Al-Matnih, Al-Ghili, Al-Suda’, Al-Sh`arat, and Al-Tawir, before government forces retook some of them in a counterattack.
Al-Jazeera Net, citing sources from both sides to Agence France-Presse, said more than 80 people were killed in clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis since Thursday, with a Yemeni military official reporting 24 government troops killed near the western coast and another official reporting 15 more killed in clashes in Taiz.
Al-Jazeera Net also said medical sources in areas under Houthi control reported at least 42 militants killed, while it noted that no official tolls had been released yet by the Houthis or the Yemeni government.
Displacement and regional stakes
As the Houthis advanced toward al-Rahabah, Abdullah Saeed, 47, fled his home in the Maqbanah district west of Taiz in 2022 and told Al Jazeera that “Fighting erupted suddenly at night,” leaving him and around 300 other families in al-Rahabah camp to flee again.
“Fighting erupted suddenly at night”
Saeed said, “We had a bad experience when we were stuck in the crossfire in 2022,” and he described the new displacement as families from neighbouring camps and villages also running, with “We are all now in dire need of shelter and basic services.”
Al Jazeera reported that the Houthis launched an offensive against government forces on the western fronts of Taiz governorate early Thursday morning using missiles and drones before initiating ground fighting described as the fiercest since 2022, and it said the pro-Iranian Houthis managed to advance across several fronts in Maqbanah, Mawzaa and Jabal Habashi districts.
In parallel with the ground escalation, Al Jazeera said Houthis targeted al-Makha (Mocha) port in an apparent attempt to push government forces out of the southern Red Sea coast, while government forces attacked the Houthis across multiple governorates and reported dozens of drone strikes against Houthi targets.
The conflict’s wider trajectory remained tied to the Red Sea and the port city of al-Makha (Mocha), with Al Jazeera’s Mawry saying both sides were “scrabbling to gain territory and gain control not just on land, but at sea,” as the fighting threatened to isolate Taiz from the coast and the Mokha port.