Fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi movement has escalated sharply, with both sides reporting heavy casualties amidst fierce ground clashes in Marib province and deadly aerial bombardments in Sanaa province. While military officials loyal to the internationally recognized government claim to have repulsed a major rebel offensive, Houthi authorities stated that strikes on a village north of the capital left at least 27 civilians dead.
Key Takeaways: Yemeni government forces claimed to have halted multiple Houthi assaults in Marib and pressed ahead in al-Jawf under the ongoing "Dawn of Yemen" military campaign. An alleged airstrike on the village of al-Shariya in Sanaa province killed at least 27 people, mostly women and children, and wounded around 30 others. Cross-border tensions also flared as the Houthis claimed widespread missile and drone strikes targeting infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, including Riyadh’s international airport.
In official statements, Yemeni government military spokesman Colonel Majed al-Nazili asserted that ground troops, heavily supported by warplanes and combat drones, conducted 875 strikes against insurgent positions in a single day. The military purportedly neutralized about 130 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled up to 50 vehicles and missile launch systems. Concurrently, government units attempted to advance in the neighbouring al-Jawf province, entering the third consecutive day of intense combat aimed at wresting territory from rebel control.
Meanwhile, civilian suffering continues to mount in the war-torn country. The Houthi-run Saba news agency reported severe casualties from strikes hitting residential areas in Sanaa province. Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesperson for the local health ministry, condemned the deaths of women and children, pinning the blame on the Saudi-led military coalition. Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthis' Supreme Political Council, publicly pledged retaliation for the bloodshed, while neither coalition nor government officials directly confirmed the strikes.
With competing narratives and mutual recriminations dominating the battlefield, prospects for a durable ceasefire appear increasingly dim. The Houthis also claimed to have launched six separate operations targeting Saudi Arabian infrastructure, including oil facilities in Khurais and Dawadmi, though coalition forces only confirmed intercepting a ballistic missile over the Riyadh region. The persistent clashes threaten to prolong one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises without any clear political resolution in sight.
Source: www.aljazeera.com