Yemen’s internationally recognised government forces say they have killed or wounded 1,540 Houthi rebels in nearly 500 military operations over the past 24 hours, while closing a key crossing in Taiz.
Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, an army spokesman, said warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and rocket launchers had been used against Houthi positions in several parts of the country.
He said the heaviest fighting had taken place in Taiz governorate, where the operations had halted a Houthi advance. The government-held city of Taiz has become a central focus of the renewed conflict.
The army did not report any casualties among government forces.
Taiz crossing closed over security concerns
The al-Houban crossing, which links the Houthi-held area of al-Houban with government-controlled Taiz city, was closed on Saturday, according to army media official Ammar al-Sami’i.
The route had been shut for nine years before reopening to civilians in 2024 for humanitarian reasons. It is one of Yemen’s most important links between areas controlled by the opposing sides.
Mr al-Sami’i said the latest closure followed an alleged attempt by the Houthis to infiltrate Taiz through the road, as well as attacks nearby and a wider military build-up.
A fragile truce agreed between the government and the Houthis in 2022 collapsed in July this year, after which fighting escalated significantly.
In mid-September, the Houthis advanced across parts of western Yemen, capturing the port city of Mocha and strategically important islands in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Anti-Houthi forces have since largely stabilised the front lines, but hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, forcing the internationally recognised government to retreat to Aden.
