The Houthi advance on the Taiz and Lahj fronts collided with painful strikes by Yemeni government forces during the past hours, along separate fronts, with the recovery of sites and heights in western Taiz and Lahj, and the group’s attempts to isolate Taiz from Aden were thwarted, in conjunction with air strikes and marches targeting Houthi gatherings and vehicles on several fronts.
While the Houthis' military escalation exacerbated the humanitarian situation by raising the number of displaced people to more than 180,000, the head of the Presidential Command Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, placed the developments within the framework of restoring the initiative and deterrence power, while demanding actual international efforts to deter the Houthi threat.
Local sources reported that government forces, backed by local fighters, regained several positions on the fronts west of Taiz, and the ruling mountainous heights located on the administrative border between the Al-Shamaytain and Al-Wazi’iyah districts.
These sites are gaining field importance given their supervision of areas and roads linking the western fronts of Taiz to the south of the governorate, at a time when government forces are consolidating their positions around the corridors linking Taiz to the southern regions, after weeks of continuous battles along the highlands overlooking the western coast of Taiz and in its southeastern highlands.
The sources also reported that the government forces participating in the operations, from the Giants and Homeland Shield brigades, regained mountain peaks overlooking Bab al-Mandab from the south, all the way to other heights in the north overlooking the Al-Wazi’iyah District.
These developments are related to the ongoing confrontations on the Kahboub, Al-Waziyah and Jardad fronts, where battles are taking place around the highlands overlooking large areas of western and southwestern Taiz.
On the Haifan and Al-Maqtara fronts, government forces thwarted a Houthi infiltration attempt near the Haijat Al-Abd road, and announced the security of Wadi Al-Maqtara and the reopening of the road linking Taiz, Lahj, and Aden.
The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, said that units from the Taiz axis, the Tur Al-Baha axis, and the Giants Brigades, with the support of the popular resistance, confronted the infiltration attempts and forced the attacking elements to retreat, indicating that they suffered human and material losses, according to the government military account.
In Haifan District, clashes continued in Al-Ahkoum isolation, in conjunction with government air and artillery bombardment targeting Houthi sites. The Al-Ashbout and Hijat Al-Abd areas in Al-Maqtara also witnessed clashes with elements who tried to approach the road and position themselves in locations close to it.
In Jabal Habashi and Al-Kadha, government forces said they shot down two Houthi drones, while government drones targeted gatherings and sites of the group in Al-Kadha. The Taiz Axis Media Center reported that one of the strikes led to the death of seven Houthi members and the injury of others.
The strikes extended to the city of Mokha, as the Armed Forces spokesman said that the forces targeted Houthi elements, as part of operations targeting the group’s locations and movements and limiting its ability to carry out attacks against the forces and residents.
In Ma'rib Governorate, intermittent clashes, exchanges of artillery shelling, and the use of marches continued along the lines of contact, and government forces' strikes continued on the neighboring Al-Jawf Governorate front, amid reports of Houthi losses in personnel and equipment.
Politically, the head of the Presidential Command Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, placed field developments within the framework of what he described as the government forces’ transition from containing attacks to regaining initiative and deterrence power.
Al-Alimi said, during his meeting with the British Ambassador to Yemen, Abda Sharif, that the armed forces and military formations showed, according to his assessment, the ability to deal with Houthi attacks on multiple fronts, noting that the developments on the West Coast constituted a difficult test, but they prompted the government forces to unify ranks and regain the initiative.
The head of the Yemeni Leadership Council warned against continuing to deal with the Houthis using the logic of containment, considering that a truce that does not prevent rearmament may lead to new rounds of violence.
Al-Alimi linked the security of the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab to the presence of a Yemeni state capable of controlling its lands, coasts and territorial waters, calling on the international community to take more effective measures to implement the arms embargo and pursue smuggling networks, financing and transfer of military technology.
On the humanitarian side, the number of displaced people as a result of the recent operations in southern Hodeidah and western Taiz has risen to more than 180,000 people, according to the latest report of the Executive Unit for the Management of Displaced Persons’ Camps.
The report said that the total number of forcibly displaced families reached 27,413 families, including 180,513 individuals, distributed over ten governorates. Taiz topped the list of hosting areas, with about 13,409 families, including 93,917 individuals, followed by Lahj with 5,782 families, Aden with 3,741 families, and Abyan with 2,157 families.
The displacement movement also included Al-Hudaydah, Ma’rib, Al-Dhalea, Al-Mahra, Hadramaut, and Shabwa, while Al-Hudaydah recorded a new displacement movement of some families towards Aden.
The report warned that sudden displacement deprived the majority of families of securing their basic needs, in light of an acute shortage of emergency shelter, food, drinking water, sanitation services, health care, and protection, especially for children, women, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
The Executive Unit launched an urgent appeal to local authorities, international and international organizations, and donors to provide life-saving aid and activate rapid response mechanisms.
Member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Abdullah Al-Alimi, called on the international community to move from a policy of “crisis management” to a strategic partnership with his country, stressing that the Yemenis are not asking the world to fight their battle on their behalf, but rather to implement its decisions, stop the flow of weapons and technology to the Houthis, and support the capabilities of the Yemeni state and its economy.
Al-Alimi said, in his country's speech before the eighty-first session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, that the Yemeni government is capable of ending the Houthi threat and protecting the country's ports and territorial waters, calling on the international community to assume its responsibilities towards Yemen, the region, and international security and peace.
Al-Alimi placed the demand for international partnership at the forefront of his message, stressing that international resolutions alone do not make peace unless there is the will to implement them. He said that peace “is not a wish to be hoped for,” but rather requires a firm will and action that deters those who threaten the security and stability of countries.
He criticized what he described as the absence of an effective and decisive international stance towards the Houthis, considering that this contributed to the expansion of the group's influence and threat. He also linked the continuation of the crisis to Iranian support, which he said the Houthis receive in the form of weapons, expertise, and military technologies.
He pointed out that Yemenis have been living for 12 years with war, displacement, poverty, child recruitment, mine planting, and the confiscation of rights, freedoms, and public resources. He said that the government dealt responsibly with international and regional initiatives and made concessions for the sake of peace, while the Houthis met those efforts, according to his account, with intransigence and exploiting the truce periods to strengthen their military arsenal.
The member of the Yemeni Governing Council devoted a prominent part of his speech to the security of the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, stressing that the Houthis’ use of navigational security as a pressure card does not represent a threat to Yemen alone, but rather affects the world economy.
Al-Alimi said that securing the sea begins with addressing the source of danger on land, warning that protecting ships does not remove the threat as long as an armed group remains outside the state’s authority on the shores of sea lanes.
A member of the Yemeni Leadership Council directly linked the restoration of the state to the security of Bab al-Mandab, saying that the two issues are “one issue, not two issues,” and that supporting the Yemeni government and strengthening its economic, security, and military capabilities represents an investment in the future of global security and safety.
He also appreciated the Saudi initiative to establish a multinational maritime defense alliance, as, according to his speech, it reflects a joint responsibility to protect navigation, deter threats, and combat smuggling.
A member of the Yemeni Leadership Council confirmed that his country's government is committed to peace, but will not accept that the armed coup becomes a fait accompli, stressing that "peace requires actions from the Houthis, not words."
He said that the Yemeni issue is not only related to how to end the war, but also to the shape of Yemen that will be built after it, speaking about a safe, stable and prosperous state that rebuilds its economy, provides education, work and security, and turns into a partner for its neighbors and a bridge for trade and cooperation between the Arabian Peninsula, the Horn of Africa and the world.
In a message to Yemenis in Houthi-controlled areas, he stressed that the government’s battle is not against citizens, regions, or sects, but rather against “an armed coup that confiscated the state and its institutions.” He said that restoring the state is not a victory for one Yemeni party over another, but rather a restoration of the right of all Yemenis to their state and institutions.
Informed Yemeni sources reported that a number of ballistic missiles fell in various areas under the control of the Houthi group, after their launches failed or deviated from their paths, which, according to the sources, caused civilian casualties and damage to homes, property and facilities.
The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that many of the missiles failed to launch and fell inside or near populated areas, causing material damage and a state of panic among the population. Local sources and circulating reports also spoke of civilian deaths and injuries in some of these incidents.
These facts highlight the risks to which residents of Houthi-controlled areas are exposed as a result of the launching of ballistic missiles from populated areas. Failed launches could turn into a direct threat to residents, facilities, and agricultural lands within the group’s areas of control.
The most recent of these incidents was the fall of a Houthi ballistic missile in the village of “Al-Ayana” in the Khamer District in Amran Governorate. According to circulating information, the missile fell caused damage and losses in the area, amid talk of civilian casualties.
Days before the Khamer incident, a Houthi missile fell in the middle of this month near farms in the village of Beit Shalwan in the Bani Sarim District in Amran Governorate, resulting, according to local sources, in the killing of a farmer and the injury of others, in addition to damage to lands and agricultural equipment belonging to citizens.
Residents in the area said that after the incident, Houthi security personnel rushed to cordon off the site of the missile fall, in an attempt, according to residents’ accounts, to prevent access to the site and limit the circulation of details of the incident.
Incidents of rockets falling within the group's areas of control continued, with two ballistic missiles failing to launch in two separate incidents that occurred at the beginning of this month in the Ibb and Hodeidah governorates, causing, according to sources, damage and destruction to civilian homes. In Ibb Governorate, a Houthi missile fell in the “Al Majmaah” area northwest of Ibb city after its launch failed, which led to the destruction of more than five homes and the injury of a number of residents, including women and children.
In another incident, a missile fell in the village of Mahwa Talha, east of the city of Zabid in Hodeidah Governorate, after its launch failed, causing destruction and damage to a number of civilian homes.
The two incidents were preceded by the fall of a third missile launched by the group at night on agricultural land near the villages of “Shabal” and “Al-Nubi” in the Jableh District, southwest of Ibb, after the failure of its launch from a mobile platform towards the city of Mokha on the western coast, which sparked a state of panic among the residents.
According to the Yemeni “Yemen Daily” platform, the Houthi group failed to launch seven ballistic missiles during the period from 7 to 27 August, and they ended up falling inside areas under its control.
Experts link these failures to several possible factors, most notably the loss of a portion of experienced foreign personnel, especially Iranian and Lebanese, who were carrying out specialized technical and training tasks in operating this type of weapon.
According to their estimates, this led to the assignment of some of these tasks to local Houthi elements who lack the experience and technical competence necessary to operate missile systems efficiently.
The recurrence of these incidents coincides with the group’s continued use of residential villages, farms, and mountainous areas in a number of areas under its control as sites for launching ballistic missiles and drones, taking advantage of the geographical nature of these areas, according to local sources and observers.
Observers believe that launching missiles from populated areas not only doubles the risks to civilians in the targeted areas, but also puts the residents of the launching areas themselves in danger, especially when the launches fail or the missiles deviate from their paths.
