Yemen17 October, 20263 min read
Houthi Fighters Intensify Clashes Across Yemen, Killing Eight Government Soldiers in Lahij
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Fighting intensifies across multiple fronts between government forces and Houthi fighters. Civilian toll rises as clashes intensify and the humanitarian crisis deepens.
Clashes Across Yemen
Fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters intensified across multiple fronts in Yemen, with eight soldiers loyal to the internationally recognised Yemeni government killed during heavy clashes on the al-Maqatirah front in Lahij governorate, according to the government-affiliated Tur al-Bahah military axis. Government troops said they killed 12 Houthi fighters in al-Aqroud in Taiz governorate, after days of fighting on the outskirts of Taiz city, where Saudi Arabia-backed government forces reported repelling Houthi advances and inflicting heavy losses on the group. Government forces said they broke a Houthi attack on the al-Shaqab front, while government-aligned Homeland Shield Forces reported destroying a Houthi supply vehicle with a drone in al-Wazziyah.
The Houthis also claimed that their air defence forces brought down a Saudi reconnaissance drone over Hajjah, identifying it as a Turkish-manufactured Lentatek Karayel drone, and the Houthis claimed they shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter in Najran. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that at least seven armed men on board a skiff attacked a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker off the coast of al-Mukalla, firing two shots before the vessel’s onboard security detail returned two warning shots and forced the attackers to disengage.
Humanitarian Toll and Diplomacy
Humanitarian agencies warned that the civilian toll was worsening, with the International Organization for Migration saying more than 233,000 people have been displaced since fighting escalated in Yemen, including about 121,000 in Taiz governorate alone.
The World Health Organization warned that Taiz city has become functionally isolated, with its 12 hospitals holding fuel for only four days, no surgical supplies, and facing critical shortages of oxygen and medicine amid a growing cholera outbreak.
The World Health Organization also said at least 2,007 people have been killed or wounded in Yemen between Oct. 3 and Oct. 11, and the New York Times said the figure represented a doubling of the recent average daily casualty toll.
Iran’s spokesman Baqaei told reporters on Friday that “foreign intervention, a military approach, and a blockade are not the solution to Yemen’s problems.”
Baqaei also rejected a Saudi claim that Iran had encouraged Yemenis to attack Saudi Arabia, saying the spokesman “categorically rejected any alleged Iranian role in Yemeni operations.”
Saudi-UAE Rift and Next Moves
The United Arab Emirates agreed to re-enter the Yemen conflict by resuming payments to some government forces fighting Iran-aligned Houthis in the south, and Saudi Arabia agreed to provide air cover for the anti-Houthi force, according to sources in Yemen.
The Guardian said the new cooperation agreement was the first tangible sign that the deep rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia over Yemen’s future was starting to be healed, while the Houthis’ advance across Yemen alarmed rival Gulf state rulers.
The New York Times reported that Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said government forces destroyed two ballistic missile launchpads in Saada Province, and the coalition’s air defenses intercepted ballistic missiles and drones fired toward Riyadh and Yanbu.
In Aden, Moammar al-Eryani, Yemen’s information minister, said two Houthi missiles landed inside the international airport late Friday as a passenger jet prepared for takeoff, and the New York Times said the latest clashes came after the World Health Organization’s casualty figures.
The Guardian reported that Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said he was convening an emergency session of parliament to grant his country’s military the powers to take action in defence of Saudi Arabia, while stressing Egypt would not be taking any offensive action and would only defend Saudi Arabia.