Yemenupdated 1h ago2 min read
Iran-Backed Houthis Intensify Attacks on Taiz as Yemeni Forces Repel Siege
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Heavy clashes across Taiz fronts, western front most intense, as Houthis push advances. Government forces with Saudi airstrikes seek to repel assaults and lift the siege on Taiz.
5 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on Saudi Warplanes Launch 110 Strikes on Sana’a, Yemen Monitor Says, Killing Over 30 →
Taiz as a pivot
Iran-backed Houthi forces intensified attempts to advance into the strategically important city of Taiz after weeks of siege and the closure of surrounding major roads, while Yemeni government forces sought to repel the attacks and lift a siege the Yemeni government views as a grave threat to Aden and the Red Sea.
Brigadier General Elias Hanna said Taiz represents a core center of gravity in the ongoing battles in Yemen, warning that its fall could reflect on the entire military operations in al Wazziah and the coast and grant the Houthis the ability to control and protect the coast.
Hanna told Al Jazeera that Taiz remains besieged but has not fallen yet, as battles raged in the surrounding mountains and government forces used air strikes to influence the course of clashes.
Col. Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said Sunday that the rebels’ repeated attacks on Taiz had been thwarted, and he said warplanes targeted Houthi positions and reinforcements, inflicting “heavy losses in personnel and equipment,” according to a statement he published on X.
Siege tightens, roads cut
Houthi forces tightened their siege by cutting the city’s main southern road to Aden, the temporary capital of the internationally recognized government, and the blockade triggered widespread displacement and worsened the humanitarian crisis.
Brig. Gen. Abdulilah Khader told MBN that the Houthis were deploying large numbers of fighters in an effort to seize the city, while he said Saudi airstrikes were “inflicting heavy losses on them” as government forces attempted to break the siege and rescue residents.
Faisal al-Majidi, Yemen’s deputy justice minister, told MBN that the fall of Taiz would mean the collapse of Aden’s strategic depth and open the road for the Houthis to advance.
The World Health Organization warned Friday that 12 hospitals in Taiz could run out of fuel within four days, putting patients’ lives at risk as aid and medicine remained unable to reach the city under Houthi siege.
Western fronts and pressure
On Taiz fronts, Al Arabi TV correspondent Muath Mansur said violent clashes erupted between government forces and the Houthis at the city’s western entrance as the Houthis tried to infiltrate or storm the city starting from the Madarat area, the old airport, and around Jabal Haan and the Ghiraab crossing. Muath Mansur said the battles coincided with a series of intensive air raids targeting several Houthi sites around Jabal Haan, the Ghiraab crossing, and the old airport area, while field sources said both sides used various types of light and heavy weapons.
Yemeni sources told Sky News Arabia on Sunday about a new attack by the Southern Giants Brigades on the Bab al-Mandab area to liberate it from the Houthis, and they described targeting Houthi gatherings in Jabal Hanan and the vicinity of Brigade 35 at the Old Airport in western Taiz. The Al Arabi TV correspondent said the continued closure of the Taiz–Adan road remained a major pressure factor on daily life for Taiz residents, and he said hospitals had become unable to continue operating due to the shortage of fuel derivatives.