Yemeni government forces have said that they killed at least 30 Houthi members and wounded dozens more as intense clashes spread across several fronts in Taiz province in southwestern Yemen.
The media centre of the Taiz Military Axis said on Thursday the casualties occurred on the Al-Aqrud front in Al-Misrakh district.
A military source told Yemen's state-run Saba news agency that government forces fought intense battles with the Houthis on several fronts across Taiz province on Thursday.
The source said the fighting was concentrated in Bani Bakari in Jabal Habashi district, Humair in Maqbanah district and the Al-Aqrud front southeast of the province.
The clashes later spread to the Al-Kadaha and Jabal Han fronts, as well as the northern and eastern fronts of Taiz city, the source added.
According to the military source, government forces repelled Houthi attacks after hours of heavy fighting and forced the group's members to retreat, while inflicting losses in personnel and equipment.
The Armed Forces Media Centre said the fighting began on Wednesday evening, when army troops and the Popular Resistance repelled a series of Houthi attacks backed by heavy fire in Jabal Habashi and Maqbanah districts west of Taiz and on the Al-Aqrud front southeast of the province.
It said dozens of Houthi members were killed, wounded or captured across the fronts, including field commanders, while government forces destroyed or seized a significant amount of military equipment.
The centre said at least 30 Houthis were killed on the Al-Aqrud front alone, while dozens more were wounded in fighting involving various types of weapons.
It added that government warplanes carried out six air strikes on separate Houthi positions and gatherings southeast of Taiz and on the Humair front in Maqbanah district to the west, causing heavy losses in personnel and equipment.
The military source said government forces continued to confront the Houthi attacks and that bodies of Houthi members remained scattered across mountainous areas, valleys and front lines.
There was no comment from the Houthis on the reports.
Clashes spread beyond Tiraz
Fighting has escalated sharply in Taiz and neighbouring Lahj in recent weeks.
On Monday, government forces said they bombed Houthi reinforcements, including a tank, in the Al-Marzam area of Al-Rubaie district west of Taiz.
Last Friday, government forces also said they seized the strategic Numan mountain range in Lahj, overlooking the Al-Wazi'iyah and Al-Mudarabah districts, following clashes with the Houthis.
The military said control of the area would help secure nearby villages and cut a Houthi infiltration route.
The latest fighting is part of a broader escalation across Yemen that has intensified since July, ending the relative calm that had largely prevailed since a UN-brokered truce took effect in April 2022.
The Houthis have controlled the capital Sanaa and several other parts of the country since 2014.
