Yemeni government forces intensified their air and artillery strikes against the Houthi group in Taiz Governorate, coinciding with the continuation of confrontations along the western, southern and eastern fronts of the governorate, without recording a major field change in the map of control during the last hours, according to government military and media sources.
On Sunday, government forces fighters targeted Houthi sites, gatherings and reinforcements in various areas of Taiz, while the forces participating in the battles said that they thwarted Houthi infiltration attempts on a number of fronts, while the strikes extended to other sites in Lahj near Bab al-Mandab.
Military and local sources reported that the air strikes targeted Houthi sites and gatherings in the eastern city of Taiz, after the arrival of human and military reinforcements for the group. The raids also targeted - according to the same sources - a Houthi camp and vehicles at the Mawiyah Junction, and sites on the Al-Akbush front in the southeast, as well as a column of reinforcements on 60th Street, north of the city of Taiz.
Government forces had announced that their raids during the past hours targeted a supply convoy on 60th Street in Taiz, reinforcements in the Henna area of the Al-Waziyah District in the west of the governorate, and sites and stores of weapons, ammunition and missiles in the Mawiyah and Al-Dhakra junctions in the east, in addition to a Houthi gathering in the Suwayda area in the Haifan District in the south.
The military sources said that the raids resulted in the destruction of vehicles and deaths and injuries among the Houthis, including field commanders, without providing independent, verifiable figures regarding the extent of the losses.
In parallel with military aviation, government forces used drones to target Houthi hideouts, vehicles, and gatherings on a number of battle fronts, an indication of the intensification of the use of air strikes to confront the group’s military movements and reinforcements.
On the ground, the Taiz Axis Command said that government forces thwarted a Houthi infiltration attempt on the Al-Ahtoub front in the Jabal Habashi District, west of Taiz, and targeted the group’s members as they attempted to approach its positions in the Hathran area.
Government forces also bombed a Houthi vehicle with a mortar shell on the Al-Kadha front, and targeted gatherings of the group on the Al-Aqroud front, southeast of the city.
These developments come at a time when the Taiz, Lahj, and Bab al-Mandab fronts remain on high alert, with attacks and counterattacks continuing around the heights and advanced positions. Especially in the areas of Jabal Numan, Kahboub, Al-Alqama and Rasin.
There were no indications - according to available field data - of new Houthi advances. The confrontations remained concentrated in the front areas and the highlands surrounding Jabal Numan, while Houthi attempts continued to regain parts of the positions they lost in this axis.
In Kahboub, on the road leading to Bab al-Mandab, the Southern Giants forces said that they targeted Houthi gatherings and vehicles, and destroyed an armored vehicle, killing those on board, while confrontations continued on the Al-Waziyah and Mudaraba fronts.
The nature of the strikes during the last two days reveals the extension of the confrontation from the front lines to supply sites, gatherings, camps and weapons depots, at a time when Yemeni government forces are trying to limit the Houthis’ ability to push new reinforcements to the Taiz and Lahj fronts.
The targeting areas include the Mawiyah Junction and Al-Dhakra junction east of Taiz, Al-Hawban, and 60th Street in the north of the city, Haifan in the south, and Al-Waziyah in the west, in addition to sites in the neighboring Ibb governorate.
Thus, battles are no longer limited to direct clashes on the heights. Indeed, Houthi supply lines and military movements have become frequent targets of air strikes.
On the other hand, the Houthis continued their attempts to put pressure on a number of fronts. Especially in the western axes, which are gaining importance due to their proximity to the road leading to the coastal areas and Bab al-Mandab. Where they seek to secure their gains.
The intensity of military operations comes in light of indications of an increase in Houthi human losses. The group acknowledged the killing of Majd al-Din Hamid al-Hamzi, who military sources said was head of operations for the 3rd Missile Brigade, along with a number of his companions, after battles on the West Coast fronts.
In the latest indicators of losses, Yemeni monitoring data reported that Houthi media and platforms announced during this September the funeral of 422 members of the group, including officers and military leaders.
The sources that prepared the monitoring indicated that the number does not represent the total actual losses, due to the Houthis not regularly announcing all of their dead, in addition to the delay in the funeral or burial of some of the dead away from media coverage, and the failure to include bodies found in hospitals or combat areas in the monitoring lists.
In one day (last Friday), sources spoke of the funeral of 60 of the group’s dead on various fronts, at a time when losses were particularly concentrated on the Taiz and Lahj fronts, according to local reports.
These battles were accompanied by reports of the bodies of fighters remaining in some combat areas, amid local appeals to the Red Cross and Red Crescent to intervene and recover them, for fear of humanitarian and environmental repercussions.
The health system in Yemen is facing mounting pressures with the expansion of the Houthi escalation, and the influx of tens of thousands of displaced people across 8 governorates, at a time when the ability of medical facilities to deal with infections and emergency needs is declining, amid warnings of the high risk of the spread of epidemic diseases as a result of overcrowding and the disruption of basic services.
The World Health Organization is intensifying its preparations to confront further deterioration in the health and humanitarian situation, warning that displacement, overcrowding, and disruption of basic health services may lead to an increased risk of the spread of cholera, acute watery diarrhoea, measles, dengue fever, and diphtheria, in addition to worsening malnutrition.
In its latest report, the organization reported that more than 18,000 suspected cases of measles have been reported since the beginning of this year, including 106 deaths related to the disease, in addition to 390 cases of diphtheria and 13 deaths.
Marib Governorate bears the greatest burden in terms of the total number of victims, according to the data contained in the report, with 1,690 cases, followed by Taiz and the Western Coast with 1,349 cases. Lahj also emerged as the most active front during the recent period covered by the report, with 284 infections recorded between 13 and 18 September. This has placed additional pressure on hospitals, trauma services and medical referral systems.
The organization confirmed that the recent escalation led to the displacement of tens of thousands of people across 8 governorates, many of them from families that had previously suffered displacement. This makes it more difficult for them to obtain basic health care.
The wave of new needs comes at a time when the Yemeni health system is struggling to meet existing needs. Of the 5,415 health service delivery units that were evaluated in terms of readiness and operation, 60 percent of them are operating at full capacity, while 35 percent are operating partially, while 4 percent have stopped working completely.
Comprehensive acute care services are available in only 6 percent of the facilities evaluated; This increases pressure on facilities capable of receiving the injured, especially in areas close to the front lines.
The World Health Organization is working with the Ministry of Public Health and Population and the Health Cluster partners in Yemen to ensure the continuation of life-saving health services, and to strengthen the capabilities of hospitals and emergency teams to deal with the rising numbers of infections, displacement cases, and other health needs.
The organization's efforts in preparedness and response revolve around 3 emergency scenarios covering 11 governorates, while working to expand the capabilities of treating injuries and surgeries, strengthening emergency ambulance and referral services, deploying additional emergency teams, and maintaining a reserve stock of vital health supplies sufficient for 60 days.
The organization is also working to establish alternative supply and referral corridors in anticipation of the disruption of existing routes, and is preparing for the possibility of further deterioration by pre-stocking emergency supplies and preparing the city of Mukalla to be a logistical center and response hub.
Preparations also include strengthening supply routes through Hadramaut and the Sultanate of Oman, and planning to deal with the potential for large-scale displacement and associated health needs.
These measures - according to UN data - gain additional importance with the deterioration of access methods and referral paths. The access of partners from Aden to the western coast has stopped, while access to Al-Turbah and the city of Taiz has become difficult, while the injured are being transported from the Lahj front, which is witnessing an escalation in operations, through the Lahj-Aden axis to hospitals receiving cases in the temporary capital.
Sayed Jaafar Hussein, the representative of the World Health Organization in Yemen, said that the country's health system bears enormous burdens, and that the recent escalation puts additional pressure on hospitals, health workers, and life-saving services.
He added that the organization's priorities are to ensure that those affected by the escalation continue to have access to basic and emergency health care, noting that achieving this requires protecting access to health services, ensuring the continued flow of vital supplies, and strengthening the capabilities of hospitals and referral systems, before needs worsen further.
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Muammar Al-Eryani, warned civil aviation authorities and international airlines of the development revealed by the army in his country. He said that the danger extends to the nature of the weapons and their launch sites, especially as they are directed from Houthi areas towards international air routes.
The Yemeni armed forces issued a warning about a military development that they said threatened the safety of civil aviation and international air routes south of the Red Sea, after monitoring the Houthi group’s use of Iranian air defense weapons that, according to the Yemeni army, were converted into “mobile” missiles launched from Hodeidah Governorate towards international air routes.
The official spokesman for the armed forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, said that the forces recently monitored the Houthis using these weapons “with innovative techniques and tactics,” noting that a single missile can remain on the move for up to 25 minutes, and works with a thermal tracking system to attack heat sources.
Al-Nuzaili explained, in an official statement, that these weapons do not have, according to the information he provided, the ability to distinguish between military and civilian targets, which makes their use towards international air routes a direct threat to civilian aircraft and travelers, including United Nations aircraft and humanitarian and relief organizations that use the airspace of Yemen and the region.
The Yemeni army believes that the danger of these weapons is not related to their technical capabilities alone, but rather to the locations of their use and the direction of their launch, as Al-Nuzaili said that they are launched from areas controlled by the Houthis in Hodeidah Governorate towards international air routes south of the Red Sea.
He warned that transforming the airspace in the region into a threat to civilian aircraft exceeds, as he described it, the scope of danger inside Yemen, and affects the safety of international air navigation, calling on the International Civil Aviation Organization and the International Air Transport Association to take measures to deal with the potential risks.
Al-Eryani recalled the incident of the downing of the Ukrainian plane “PS752” in Tehran in 2020, which resulted in the death of 176 people, as a precedent linked to the use of air defense systems near civil air traffic. He called on the International Civil Aviation Organization, aviation safety authorities, and airlines to include the development reported by the Yemeni army in risk assessments of air routes in the region.
This warning comes at a time when Houthi risks associated with the maritime and airspace around the Red Sea are increasing. The Yemeni government says that the transfer of danger to air routes adds a new dimension to the repercussions of the conflict, especially if it is proven that thermally guided weapons are being used near civil air traffic.
Al-Eryani called on the international community to act before an air accident occurs, warning that the repercussions of the potential threat are not limited to commercial aircraft, but also include flights affiliated with the United Nations and humanitarian organizations that depend on the airspace for their operations inside Yemen and the region.
