Yemeni authorities have said that four soldiers and 23 members of the Houthi group were killed in “fierce clashes” in the southwestern province of Dhalea, in the heaviest fighting the province has witnessed since a truce was announced in 2022.
The escalation comes at a crucial time as the US and Iran have once again started attacking each other and the Houthis appear to be dragging Yemen deeper into the conflict.
The media centre of the Dhalea front, affiliated with government forces, said on Thursday that four soldiers were killed and 10 others injured in clashes with the Houthis on the Fakher and Al-Jub fronts.
It said 23 Houthis, including two commanders, were killed and seven others captured during the clashes.
Large military reinforcements arrived to support government forces involved in the fighting in Dhalea after the clashes erupted, the centre said.
Resumption of fighting
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the confrontations, which were the fiercest in the province since the truce took effect in April 2022.
In recent days, clashes between government forces and the Houthis have resumed in several provinces, including Jawf, Dhalea and Taiz, amid mutual threats from the two sides, as Yemen faces one of the world’s worst humanitarian and economic crises.
Despite sporadic fighting, Yemen has seen relative calm since April 2022 in a war that began more than 11 years ago between government forces and the Houthi group, which has controlled provinces and cities, including the capital Sanaa, since September 21, 2014.
Expanding attacks to support Iran
The renewed fighting comes as the Iran-aligned Houthis are once again expanding their attacks in support of Tehran amid the escalating US-Iran exchange of hostilities.
Reuters reported last week, citing sources, that Iran had instructed the group to prepare to close the Bab al-Mandab Strait if the US attacked Iranian power infrastructure.
The Houthis have since widened their campaign, declaring a blockade on Saudi-linked shipping and hitting two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday with missiles and drones.
Saudi authorities confirmed that one of the vessels, the Encelia, was hit and caught fire, but said its crew was safe. The reported attack on the second tanker, the Layla, has not been independently confirmed.
The Houthis say the immediate escalation is a response to restrictions on ports and airports under their control and a strike on Sanaa airport intended to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing.
Their renewed operations have opened another front in the regional conflict and threaten shipping through Bab al-Mandab as Iran restricts traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
