Yemen sees widest escalation in 3 weeks as displacement nears 200,000

Yemen witnessed its widest military escalation in three weeks in recent hours between government forces and the Houthi group, as the displacement crisis caused by the fighting continued to worsen. Clashes were concentrated in the southwestern provinces of Taiz and Lahej, marking the most intense escalation since Sept. 10, when the Houthis took control of the strategic city of Mokha, according to Anadolu’s monitoring. Amid the escalation on the ground, the number of people displaced since military operations intensified in July approached 198,000, according to government data. Fierce clashes The army said on Thursday that it foiled a major Houthi attack on several fronts in Taiz and Lahej, while carrying out airstrikes on the group’s positions and vehicles. Read: Trump's national security team holds unannounced Camp David talks on Iran war, Yemen: Axios “The armed forces’ warplanes carried out six airstrikes on positions and vehicles belonging to the Houthi militia,” the army’s Tor Al-Baha military axis said in a statement, noting that forces “thwarted a large-scale Houthi attack on all fronts of the Tor Al-Baha axis and eliminated all its attacking formations.” The strikes targeted positions “on the Al-Akboush, Al-Ahkoum and Hayfan fronts south of Taiz province,” it added, without providing details. The Tor Al-Baha axis operates in Taiz and Lahej provinces, according to an Anadolu correspondent. The Taiz military axis said in a statement that army forces “are engaged in fierce battles in the Bani Bakari area of Jabal Habashi district, the Himyar front in Maqbanah district in western Taiz, and the Al-Aqroud front in the southeast of the province.” It added that army forces “inflicted casualties and equipment losses on the Houthi militia,” without providing details. In a separate development, a military source told Anadolu that government forces foiled a Houthi attack on the Sharie area in the Sama’a district, southeast of Taiz. The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Houthis attacked the area, but resistance forces thwarted the assault, resulting in deaths and injuries on both sides. Read more: Saudis plan assault on Houthis to break Red Sea chokehold The attack was the first launched by the Houthis on the district since 2014, according to Anadolu’s monitoring. Displacement crisis Yemen’s Executive Unit for Internally Displaced Persons Camps Management said on Thursday that the number of people displaced by the escalation since July had risen to nearly 198,000. The government unit said that “waves of forced displacement caused by the continued military escalation, direct shelling and deteriorating security conditions have worsened, posing serious threats to the lives and safety of civilians.” It said the number of people registered as displaced since the military escalation resumed in July stood at 29,519 families, comprising 197,906 people. Taiz topped the list of provinces hosting displaced people, with 13,925 families comprising 97,529 people distributed in 15 districts. Lahej ranked second, hosting 7,179 families with 50,253 people in nine districts, most arriving from conflict areas in Taiz and Al-Hudaydah. The temporary capital, Aden, received 3,741 families comprising 17,782 people, while Abyan recorded 2,097 families with 14,679 people. In Al-Hudaydah, 1,471 families comprising 10,297 people were registered in the districts of Hays and Al-Khokha, with indications of secondary displacement toward Aden, according to the statement. Children caught up in fighting Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry warned Wednesday of the growing presence of children recruited by the Houthis amid the latest military escalation. The ministry said it documented the deaths of at least 100 children recruited by the Houthis during fighting in September, based on names, information and photographs it was able to obtain following their deaths. It stressed that the figure does not represent the total number of recruited or killed children, but only a limited number of cases it was able to identify and verify, adding that field information indicated the actual number was much higher. Also read: Yemeni government forces seize strategic mountain overlooking Bab el-Mandeb: Official It also said it had documented cases of children being abducted or recruited in several provinces under Houthi control before being transferred to mobilisation camps and deployed to battlefronts, and later returned to their families as bodies. International complaint In a related development, the government filed a complaint with the UN Security Council, warning of “a serious Houthi threat to the safety of civil aviation.” It came in a letter sent by the government to the council that was published early Thursday by the Foreign Ministry and Expatriates. The government warned of “a serious threat to the safety and security of international civil aviation over the southern Red Sea, due to the use by the Houthi terrorist militia of Iranian-origin weapons launched from areas under its control in Al-Hudaydah province toward international air routes.” The government urged the Security Council “to take urgent international action to confront this threat and enforce the arms embargo imposed on the militia.” It said the weapons “use heat-tracking systems that track heat sources without distinguishing between military and civilian targets.” It warned that “launching these weapons near international air routes poses a direct and serious threat to civilian aircraft and their passengers, including UN and humanitarian flights operating in Yemen and the region.” The complaint came one day after military escalation between government forces and the Houthis on several fronts, including Taiz, Lahej, Marib, Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda, alongside the army’s announcement that it carried out hundreds of strikes against the group’s positions and members. The Houthis, meanwhile, reported dozens of airstrikes and missile attacks on areas under their control. The escalation coincided on Wednesday with a military meeting in Aden to discuss strengthening readiness and implementing directives from Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Al-Alimi on general mobilisation. Saudi Arabia also announced on Wednesday its full support for the government in extending its authority in the country and restoring stability. The developments are part of the escalation that began in early July and is considered the widest since the relative calm that followed an April 2022 truce. Fighting intensified in September, leading to the Houthis seizing several vital areas in Al-Hudaydah and Taiz provinces, including Mokha, and eventually Mayyun Island overlooking the international Bab al-Mandeb maritime strait. Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis seized the national capital, Sanaa, and several provinces in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of Yemen's internationally recognised government.

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