Yemeni government forces, Houthis clash across 4 provinces amid sharp escalation

Fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group continued across four provinces Wednesday, leaving several people dead, including civilians, amid the country’s widest military escalation since 2022.

Clashes and attacks were reported in the western provinces of Taiz, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhale and Al-Hudaydah, while government reinforcements were sent to the strategic western coastal city of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The government-aligned Giants Brigades said in a statement that its forces carried out “precise strikes” against gatherings of Houthi fighters on the western coast.

The forces released footage showing vehicles and fighters being targeted but did not specify the location of the strikes.

In a separate statement, the Giants Brigades said its forces targeted a Houthi vehicle in the central Al-Bayda province, killing everyone inside.

The forces also announced Tuesday evening that they shot down a Houthi drone on the Al-Bayda front, without providing details about its type.

In western Al-Hudaydah province, the government-run provincial media office said two civilians from the villages of Dar al-Harbi and Mahwa Yassin were killed by Houthi mortar fire in Hays district.

Houthi advance repelled in Taiz

In Taiz province, government forces repelled a Houthi advance toward Al-Wazi’iyah district, district chief Ali al-Dhrafi said, according to the government-aligned 2 December news agency.

Al-Dhrafi praised local residents for standing alongside government forces, saying they would not allow the Houthis to take control of the district again.

Al-Wazi’iyah is considered strategically important because of its proximity to Bab al-Mandab, a key maritime route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

In southwestern Al-Dhale province, government forces repelled a Houthi attack in the Murais area before launching a counterattack against Houthi positions on the same front, state-run Yemen TV reported.

Separately, Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman al-Lahji, commander of the government-aligned Nation’s Shield Forces, arrived in Mokha at the head of reinforcements for active fronts, according to the military media of the government-aligned National Resistance Forces.

The latest fighting is part of the widest escalation between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis since 2022, when a UN-brokered truce largely halted major hostilities. The truce later expired, with military confrontations resuming in July this year.

Fighting intensifies

Fighting has intensified in recent days on several fronts, particularly in Taiz, Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda, alongside airstrikes targeting Houthi positions.

The escalation has also spilled into neighboring Saudi Arabia. Riyadh said Tuesday that Houthi attacks targeting civilian and economic sites in the southwestern cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran injured 73 civilians, including women and children.

The Houthis, accused of receiving Iranian support, claimed that they targeted facilities belonging to Saudi energy company Aramco and an air base with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.