A main access road to Taiz in south-western Yemen has reopened after Houthi rebels advanced along the country’s western coast, according to local government and military sources.
The development follows the Houthis’ capture of the key port city of Mocha from government forces earlier this week. Mocha, in Taiz province, lies about 90 kilometres west of the city of Taiz.
Government forces still hold parts of Taiz province, including the provincial capital, but fighting in the area is continuing. Military sources said pro-government forces had launched fresh attacks on Houthi positions around Taiz.
The Houthi-run al-Masirah television channel reported that Saudi Arabia had carried out air strikes in support of Yemeni government forces. A Houthi-controlled news agency, Saba, said the Iran-aligned rebels had fired at weapons depots and command centres in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s Saudi-backed government for more than a decade. A truce agreed in 2022 largely froze the conflict, although it offered little prospect of a lasting end to the war.
Fighting has intensified again amid the wider conflict involving Iran, pushing Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia and Oman, deeper into civil war.
The International Organisation for Migration said the number of people displaced within Yemen had risen rapidly in recent days to nearly 86,000. More than 82,000 people have fled fighting since the beginning of September, while more than 2,000 have crossed the Red Sea strait to Djibouti.
Earlier United Nations estimates said more than 150,000 people had been killed in the fighting by 2021, with a further 220,000 dying from indirect effects including hunger and disease. About 22 million people in Yemen depend on humanitarian assistance.
The Houthis’ advance along the western coast could enable them to increase attacks and blockades against shipping as tensions with Saudi Arabia resurface. A Houthi spokesman said shipping would remain safe, apart from Saudi vessels.
