Fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi fighters has spread across several fronts, deepening a humanitarian crisis that aid agencies have been warning about. The government-affiliated Tur al-Bahah military axis said in a statement on Saturday that eight soldiers loyal to the internationally recognised government were killed in heavy clashes on the al-Maqatirah front in Lahij governorate.
The escalation follows a sharp rise in the war after the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast from government-loyal forces last month. In response, government forces backed by Saudi Arabia launched a counteroffensive and then an operation called ‘Dawn of Yemen’, which aims to retake Houthi-held land, including the capital, Sanaa, which the Iran-aligned group took in 2014.
Ground offensives spread across Taiz, al-Jawf and Marib
In Taiz governorate, government troops said they killed 12 Houthi fighters in al-Aqroud after several days of fighting on the outskirts of Taiz city. Saudi-backed government forces said they had pushed back Houthi advances and inflicted heavy losses on the group.
Elsewhere in Taiz, government forces said they stopped a Houthi attack on the al-Shaqab front. The government-aligned Homeland Shield Forces reported destroying a Houthi supply vehicle with a drone in al-Wazziyah, while the Southern Giants Brigades said they hit Houthi positions with precision strikes in al-Madaribah, near the Lahij border.
Government troops and allied Popular Resistance fighters also continued their offensive in al-Jawf and Marib. Military officials said artillery and drone strikes were aimed at Houthi positions, barracks and troop gatherings in al-Jawf, while coalition aircraft bombed Houthi command centres and supply depots. In Marib, government artillery and missile units fired on Houthi lines.
Competing claims over drones and helicopters in the air war
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed the group’s air defence forces had brought down a Saudi reconnaissance drone over Hajjah governorate. He identified it as a Turkish-manufactured Lentatek Karayel and said it was the fourth of its kind downed since the latest escalation began.
The Houthis also claimed they shot down a Saudi Apache helicopter in Najran, a border province of the kingdom. Saudi-led coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki, however, said an AH-6i reconnaissance helicopter crashed in Najran because of a technical malfunction, killing two crew members. Houthi media separately reported 10 Saudi air strikes targeting sites in Saada governorate.
At sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said at least seven armed men aboard a skiff attacked a liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker off al-Mukalla. The attackers fired two shots before the vessel’s onboard security team returned two warning shots, which forced them to change course and disengage.
Civilians face displacement, cholera and hospital shortages
The International Organization for Migration said 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. It said the city’s 12 hospitals hold fuel for only four days and have no surgical supplies, with critical shortages of oxygen and medicine as a cholera outbreak grows.
The displacement has also reached East Africa. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) confirmed that more than 4,000 refugees have arrived in the region, with 3,800 in Djibouti and roughly 200 in Somalia. The agency also said health workers are treating a cholera outbreak at Djibouti’s Markazi camp, where 31 cases and one death have been recorded.
