Heavy fighting between government troops and Houthis raises fears of wider war…reports Africa Daily News Desk
At least 117 people have been killed in four days of intense fighting between Yemeni government forces and Houthi fighters across the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, according to medical sources.
The clashes, which erupted on Thursday, have marked one of the most serious escalations on Yemen’s western frontlines in recent years, raising fears of a wider return to large-scale conflict.
A senior medical official accompanying government forces on the western coast said 54 government soldiers had been killed and several others wounded during the fighting.
Meanwhile, medical sources at Houthi-run hospitals in Hodeidah reported that 63 Houthi fighters had been killed over the same period, taking the combined death toll to 117.
Fierce battles have been reported across multiple fronts in Taiz and Hodeidah, close to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital international shipping route connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Yemeni government warplanes launched strikes on Houthi-held positions in both provinces on Friday in support of ground forces attempting to halt a major offensive by the rebel group.
Military sources said the aircraft targeted Houthi positions and movements in areas where ground fighting was underway, although details of casualties from the airstrikes were not immediately available.
Government forces later launched a counteroffensive in western Taiz, retaking several key positions only hours after they had fallen to Houthi fighters, according to a military official.
The latest violence represents a significant escalation after years of relative calm across many of Yemen’s frontlines.
Yemen has remained deeply divided since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and large parts of northern Yemen.
The takeover prompted a Saudi-led military coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, triggering a prolonged conflict that has devastated the country and created one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
The renewed fighting in the west now threatens to further destabilise the already fragile security situation, with both sides appearing to reinforce their positions along key strategic fronts.
