AL-MUKALLA: Yemeni government forces in the southwestern province of Taiz on Saturday repelled what local army officers described as some of the most “aggressive” assaults by the Iran-backed Houthis, as the army also launched strikes on targets in Houthi-controlled Sanaa.
Local army commanders said the Houthis heavily shelled government-controlled areas across the province, including Taiz city, firing hundreds of rounds from different weapons while deploying large numbers of infantry in an attempt to overwhelm government defensive positions.
“By God, I have never seen such aggressive assaults and battles as today. This is one of the most intense battles of the war over the past 12 years,” Col. Abdul Basit Al-Baher, a Yemeni army officer in Taiz, told Arab News.
A month ago, the Houthis launched their largest military operation against Yemeni government forces in years in the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, deploying thousands of fighters and launching barrages of missiles and drones.
A week later, the Houthis seized the Red Sea city of Mokha, the main base of the government’s National Resistance Forces, along with five other districts and the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.
The offensive later reached a stalemate as the Houthis sought to seize a chain of mountains in the southern province of Lahj overlooking Bab Al-Mandab.
Over the past three days, the Houthis have intensified missile, drone and ground attacks on Taiz city and other districts in the province, triggering fierce fighting that has left dozens of combatants dead on both sides.
Al-Baher said the intensity of Houthi firepower and the scale of the infantry deployment suggested the operation was being directed by senior Houthi commanders, or possibly commanders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Lebanon’s Hezbollah, in an attempt to seize Taiz, one of the major cities still held by the Yemeni government.
“The Houthis kept sending waves of fighters from 3 a.m. until the noon prayer,” he said.
“As soon as we eliminated one wave, another would appear. Dozens of them were killed on the single front where I was stationed.
“They employed a wide range of military hardware, including missiles, artillery and tanks.”
Al-Baher accused the Houthis of pursuing a “scorched-earth” strategy in an attempt to force Taiz into submission.
The fiercest fighting was reported around Han Mountain, Hathran and other locations on the western outskirts of Taiz city, as well as in Al-Kadaha and Jabal Habashi districts in western Taiz province.
By Saturday afternoon, government forces had repelled Houthi assaults at most flashpoints while fighting continued on other fronts, Al-Baher said.
“All the militia’s advances were repelled, with many of its fighters killed, its equipment destroyed and its forces compelled to retreat and flee,” he added.
For more than a decade, the Houthis have failed to seize Taiz city despite repeated attempts amid stiff resistance from local fighters and army units.
The Houthis seized most of the city’s entrances and imposed a siege that forced residents to use steep and sometimes unpaved roads to enter and leave the city.
The siege has long drawn condemnation from the international community and human rights groups over its impact on Taiz’s more than 2 million residents.
Ali Al-Fakih, editor of Al-Masdar Online, told Arab News that the Houthis had punished Taiz by besieging the city, shelling residential areas and, more recently, launching a major offensive aimed at seizing it.
“The high level of education and awareness in Taiz enabled its vanguard to grasp the implications of the Houthi militia’s dominance, viewing it as an extension of the Imamate project and a forward front for Iran in the region,” Al-Fakih said.
He was referring to the Imamate that ruled parts of Yemen until the 1962 revolution and that critics accuse the Houthis of seeking to revive.
“Taiz was subjected to harsh punishment by the Houthis and various other parties precisely because it remained a standard-bearer for the national project,” he added.
Meanwhile, Yemeni army spokesman Col. Majid Al-Nuzaili said on Saturday that government forces had struck what he described as “vital” military targets in Houthi-controlled Sanaa.
His remarks on X came shortly after residents reported large explosions in the capital, while videos posted on social media appeared to show thick plumes of smoke rising from mountainous areas.
“Our armed forces are carrying out an offensive operation against legitimate, vital military targets in Sanaa,” Al-Nuzaili said.
“The armed forces possess the capability to execute strategic strikes against the Houthis,” he added.
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