At least 18 combatants have been killed in battles between Yemeni government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in the country’s southwest. The clashes on Wednesday were triggered by a Houthi attack on a frontline area between government-controlled parts of Lahij governorate and Houthi-run parts of Taez province. The attack came despite a lull in fighting that has largely held since the expiry of a six-month truce brokered by the United Nations in April 2022.
Yemeni government forces succeeded in repelling the attack, but five soldiers were martyred and others wounded. A Houthi military official in Taez reported that 13 rebels, including a senior commander, were also killed in the fighting. Yemen’s internationally-recognised government condemned the Houthi offensive as a “treacherous attack.”
While hostilities have remained low, sporadic fighting has occasionally flared in parts of the country. The peace process has stalled in the wake of Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea since November, a campaign the rebels say is meant to signal solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war. Eryani accused the Houthis of exploiting the Gaza war to amass fighters, weapons, and resources to boost their capabilities on the home front.
