Yemen · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Rashad Al-Alimi Announces Counter-Offensive as Houthis Cut Taiz-Aden Road
Rashad al-Alimi announced start of military counter-offensive to reclaim Houthi-held areas. Houthis cut the Taiz–Aden supply road, seizing al-Safiya and threatening Taiz.
Whether to call Houthis a terrorist militia.
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France 24 labels the Houthis as a terrorist militia, while BGNES uses neutral rebel language for the same Taiz-Aden cutoff.
Taiz road cut
Rashad al-Alimi announced on Sunday the start of military operations to reclaim areas under Houthi control and extend the government’s authority, as the Houthis cut the main road between Taiz and Aden after seizing the al-Safiya area. The Houthis, after days of fighting, reached the al-Samsara and al-Safiya lines and cut the Taiz–Aden road, halting traffic on it, according to AFP citing military sources and eyewitnesses. A source in the Taiz police said authorities were informed of the fall of the al-Safiya area into Houthi hands and the cutting of the main road and their takeover of the police station in the area.
Muhammad al-Kaˈkeem, an advisor to the Yemeni Minister of Defense, said in a phone intervention on Al Qahira Al-Ikhbariya channel that the Houthis were pushing most of its forces toward the southwestern front of Taiz Governorate to cut supply lines between Taiz and Lahij. Colonel Maajid al-Nizili said government forces carried out 97 targeting operations against Houthi reinforcements and movements on the Taiz fronts and beyond, using combat aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, artillery, missiles, and snipers.
Besieging claims
Muhammad al-Kaˈkeem said the Houthis tried yesterday to seize a number of villages in the region, but Yemeni forces and the resistance managed to counter the attack and retake those villages. The Yemeni Minister of Defense advisor added that the Houthis are aiming to besiege Taiz and secure their positions on the western coast, while Yemeni forces face the movements with support from the popular resistance and precision air strikes. A police source told AFP that the Houthis took control of the al-Safiya area, where they cut the main road and took control of the police station.
Three Yemeni military sources confirmed Houthi control over the area and supply line, leaving the city of Taiz effectively encircled, and the military sources added that the Houthis halted traffic on the main road linking Taiz to Aden. Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think-tank, told AFP that the Houthis achieved the military objective of isolating Taiz from Aden even if they had not fully taken control of it.
Escalation and fallout
Rashad al-Alimi said the Leadership Council’s stance was to “bear national responsibility to confront the terrorist Houthi militias,” and he stressed that the announced operations “are not a war against our people in Sanaa or Saada or any other province.” Al-Alimi promised a safe return and amnesty for anyone who lays down arms, while he said the decision came after “exhausting all opportunities for de-escalation.” The Yemeni news agency SABA quoted a military source as saying that government forces, with the support of what it described as the “popular resistance,” also controlled Jabal al-Jaisha after tightening control over Jabal Hisn Sam‘, while claiming heavy human and material losses among the Houthis.
In parallel, the Houthis’ military spokesperson Yahya al-Sari’ said the group managed to repel and target gathering movements described as Saudi and east of al-Jawf, adding that the Houthis targeted those forces’ gatherings with ballistic missiles and drones. France 24 reported that the Yemeni government’s leader announced the start of a new military operation to retake all territory held by Iran-backed Houthi fighters, and Rashad al-Alimi said, “I announce today the start of military operations to retake the remaining territories of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory.”F