Yemeni government forces and Houthi fighters battled across several fronts west of Taiz province on Thursday, in one of the sharpest escalations in western Yemen since a 2022 truce largely froze the country’s front lines.
The latest fighting centered on an attempt by the Houthis to advance toward the road linking Taiz city to al-Makha, the port city on the Red Sea coast. Control of that route would matter far beyond the local terrain: it connects inland government-held territory to the coast and supports movement of supplies, people and military logistics.
According to Yemen’s Army Media Centre, the Houthis launched 14 ballistic missiles and drones at populated districts in Taiz and Hodeidah provinces while pushing attacks on army positions in the Maqbanah Mountains west of Taiz. The same account said Houthi fighters tried to infiltrate areas including al-Ahtoub, al-Tuwair, al-Kadha and Jabal Ghabari.
The army said more than 18 Houthi fighters were killed and others were wounded or captured in the clashes. A military source speaking to AFP said 13 government troops were also killed. Another source said many of the government deaths occurred on the front line between al-Makha and Taiz, with additional casualties near the Red Sea coast.
A field officer in al-Makha described government troops as fighting to repel what he called a massive Houthi offensive, and said a separate attack involving two booby-trapped boats was thwarted near the port. The account underscores how the fighting is not confined to mountain positions west of Taiz, but is also tied to coastal security and the approach to the strategically important port area.
The Yemen News Agency, Saba, said the army shot down three Houthi drones in Jabal Habashi district in Taiz governorate and was engaged in fierce clashes on the al-Barah front west of Taiz city. Taken together, the reports point to a broad, multi-front push rather than a single localized assault.
The fighting also adds pressure to an already fragile political track. Yemen has been at war since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led intervention the following year. A truce signed in 2022 has mostly held, but negotiations toward a more durable peace stalled in 2023 as regional tensions rose after Israel’s war on Gaza began.
Al Jazeera reported that the current offensive may signal a deeper breakdown in the effort to keep the conflict contained. Its reporting said Yemeni officials claimed some areas that had fallen under Houthi control were later retaken, suggesting the battle lines were still moving as both sides sought to hold ground.
The current fighting carries two clear risks. First, it threatens the road and supply link between Taiz and al-Makha that government forces rely on to maintain their position in the southwest. Second, it raises the chance that the wider freeze on Yemen’s front lines could continue to erode, with exchanges of fire, drone attacks and ground assaults spreading beyond the immediate area.
For now, both sides appear to be testing how much territory they can seize or deny the other. The result is a battlefield that is once again active, costly and strategically tied to the coast, not just to Taiz itself.
