Fighting between Yemen’s government forces and the Houthis has intensified again on fronts including Taiz and al-Bayda. The Yemeni army said it had carried out 468 targeting operations, while the Houthis said airstrikes and missile attacks had been conducted by aircraft they claimed belonged to Saudi Arabia.
The military escalation came as preparations were stepped up in Aden, Yemen’s temporary capital, and Saudi Arabia reiterated its support for the Yemeni government. The activity that began in early July marked the most extensive escalation since the relative calm that followed the April 2022 ceasefire.
Houthi targets hit on the Taiz front
Government forces’ unmanned aerial vehicles carried out an attack on Houthi targets on the Kedha front southwest of Taiz. The Taiz military front’s media center said a 120-millimeter gun had been put out of service during the attack and that a fire had broken out at a Houthi ammunition depot.
Yemeni army spokesperson Majid al-Nuzayli said government forces had carried out 468 targeting operations against the Houthis. Nuzayli said hundreds of Houthi members had been killed or wounded in the operations, and that military vehicles and equipment had also been destroyed.
Nuzayli said the operations had concentrated on the eastern front, as well as in al-Bayda province in central Yemen and on the Mansura front in the al-Waziya district west of Taiz. He accused the Houthis of targeting civilians and civilian structures, including educational institutions. Nuzayli said the attacks violated international humanitarian law and principles concerning the protection of civilians.
In a later statement, Nuzayli said military reinforcements, weapons and equipment had been destroyed in eight targeting operations. He said three artillery batteries had been hit on the al-Waziya front and that a mobile air-defense system in al-Mukha, which he claimed had been developed by experts from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, had also been struck. Nuzayli added that Houthi leaders and members had been neutralized in the Mansura and Bab el-Mandeb areas.
Houthis claim to have carried out 51 attacks
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that Saudi Arabia had carried out 51 airstrikes and missile attacks against areas under their control over the previous 24 hours. Saree alleged that F-15 aircraft had been used in the attacks and that the missiles had been launched from Najran and Jizan.
The Houthi spokesperson claimed that communications networks and civilian structures in the provinces of Marib, Saada, Amran, Hudaydah and Taiz had been targeted. Saudi authorities did not immediately comment on the claims.
Mobilization preparations discussed in Aden
A military meeting chaired by Yemeni Defense Minister Tahir al-Aqili was held in Aden. The participants discussed implementing the directives of Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi concerning his call for general mobilization, the needs of the coming period and coordination among the relevant institutions.
On Friday, al-Alimi declared a comprehensive amnesty for people who had left the Houthi movement and stopped fighting or working on behalf of the organization. The Presidential Leadership Council chairman also called for general mobilization and national solidarity in support of government forces. Al-Aqili said defending Yemen was the responsibility not only of military institutions but of all citizens.
Yemeni government calls to prevent child recruitment
Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry urged families in Houthi-controlled areas to protect their children and prevent them from joining the organization’s ranks. The ministry said children had been present among Houthi forces in recent armed clashes, and that some children were among those killed and captured.
The ministry said at least 100 children it identified as having been recruited by the Houthis had been killed in clashes on different fronts in September. The statement said this figure represented only a portion of the verified cases and that the actual number could be higher.
It was alleged that children had been abducted in some Houthi-controlled provinces or persuaded to join the organization, then sent to mobilization camps and deployed to the fronts. Families were urged not to hand their children over to people or institutions seeking to remove them from education or separate them from their families.
Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry called on the United Nations and international organizations working to protect children to monitor the recruitment of children, pressure the Houthis to end the practice, and contribute to the rehabilitation and reintegration of the children into society. The Houthis did not immediately comment on the allegations.
Saudi Arabia provides comprehensive support to Yemeni government
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said his country was providing comprehensive support to the Yemeni government through the coalition supporting legitimacy in Yemen. Bin Salman said the support was aimed at helping the government restore its authority throughout the country and establish stability.
Bin Salman said Saudi Arabia was working to de-escalate tensions and support diplomatic solutions. He also said they would respond firmly to any threats or attacks targeting his country’s security.
The war in Yemen began after the Houthis seized control of the capital, Sanaa, and some provinces in September 2014. The Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in March 2015 to support the Yemeni government.
Clashes intensified in September, with the Houthis advancing to some strategic centers in the provinces of Hudaydah and Taiz, as well as Mayyun Island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
