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Bus strike in Taiz
A Houthi ballistic missile struck a gathering of civilians on the Heijah al-Abd road in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province on Saturday, killing four civilians and injuring nine others, according to Yemeni media and the government-run Saba news agency citing medical sources.
“Four civilians were killed and nine others injured Saturday”
The strike hit the road linking Taiz with neighboring Lahj province and extending toward the southern city of Aden, Yemen’s interim capital, and local sources said it targeted passenger buses.
In the same period, the Saudi Gazette said the Yemeni army reported that its forces had recaptured several strategic positions from the Houthis in Taiz and Al-Hudaydah and thwarted an infiltration attempt east of Taiz city.
The attack came as fighting in Taiz escalated after a period of relative calm across Yemen’s front lines since a UN-brokered truce took effect in April 2022, with the Houthis controlling Sanaa and other cities since September 2014.
The Anadolu Ajansı report similarly described the missile attack as hitting the Heijah al-Abd road south of Taiz, with four civilians killed and nine injured, citing Yemeni media and local sources.
Claims, counterclaims, and deaths
While the Saudi Gazette and Anadolu Ajansı both put the civilian toll at four killed and nine injured from the Heijah al-Abd road strike, the Al Jazeera correspondent Mouha Ali reported that a missile attack also killed six civilians by targeting a bus carrying them in Taiz.
Al Jazeera also cited Yemeni military sources saying 26 soldiers were killed while repelling Houthi attacks on fronts in Mokebnah, Jabal Habashi, and Al-Berh in western Taiz in recent hours, while medical and military sources allied with the Houthis reported 31 of their fighters killed, according to the French agency.
In the same Al Jazeera account, the Yemeni Army’s Media Center said the air force carried out more than 15 airstrikes on sites, gatherings, and militia vehicles of the Houthi group on the western coast fronts of Taiz and Hodeidah.
The Al Jazeera report further said a medical source in the city of Taiz stated that Khalifa Hospital in al-Turbah admitted 15 dead and wounded due to Houthis’ strike on Hejaz al-Abad road with a guided heat-seeking missile.
Separately, the Daily Sabah report said Yemeni government forces recaptured a strategic position from the Houthis on Friday, regaining control of Tabbat al-Khazan in the Jabal Habashi district after heavy clashes.
What’s at stake next
As clashes continued across Taiz and Hodeidah, the ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English report said the Houthis carried out attacks on government forces in al-Barh, al-Kadha, Maqbanah, al-Ahtoub and Ghabari mountain, aiming to pressure government forces to stretch out their troops from Taiz to southern Hodeidah.
“pressuring the government forces to stretch out their troops”
The same report said the Houthis’ attacks allow them to apply pressure on Taiz city and cut supply routes between it and al-Mokha port, while also keeping marine passageways on the west coast under threat.
On the political level, the Al Jazeera report quoted a warning from Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad al-Alimi that any Houthi venture toward the Bab al-Mandeb Strait would turn into a “hard exhaustion” for them.
Al Jazeera also said Al-Alimi blamed the Houthis for full responsibility for the humanitarian fallout of their escalation and for violations against civilians, including causing the displacement of hundreds of families from conflict areas.
In the background of the missile strike on the Heijah al-Abd road, the Saudi Gazette described the renewed fighting as ending a period of relative calm since the UN-brokered truce took effect in April 2022, with the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government exchanging attacks across multiple fronts.