The Yemeni military operation “Yemen Dawn” entered its fifth day, Friday, with government forces completing the clearing of the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the strategic Mayon Island, and consolidating their positions in the highlands overlooking the international shipping lane, in a development that strengthens their gains on the western coast, while battles continue in the southern and western countryside of Taiz, coinciding with the expansion of the scope of air strikes against Houthi positions and movements in several regions of the country.
Military sources said that the Giants Brigades and the National Shield Forces, with air support from the coalition supporting legitimacy, took control of Bab al-Mandab, the Al-Ardi camp, and the Coast Guard observation points, in addition to Mayon Island and the mountain ranges surrounding the strait, including the sites that overlook the vital sea corridor.
The sources stated that the forces carried out a surprise bypass operation during which they bypassed the Houthis' front defense lines and reached their newly developed trenches and tunnels, where the confrontations resulted in the killing of dozens of the group's members and the surrender of others.
Securing the Strait and Mayon Island, if declared control is established, represents an important shift in the course of operations on the west coast, given the strategic location of the region at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, and its importance in protecting international navigation.
This comes after government forces announced control over the Kahboub Heights, which overlooks large areas of the area surrounding Bab al-Mandab.
With the installation of the new sites, the Yemeni government forces continue their operations on the Al-Waziyah front, west of Taiz, aiming to secure the eastern highlands of the district and tighten the noose on the Houthi positions in the vicinity of Dhubab and Al-Omari camp, in preparation for expanding the advance towards Al-Mokha, according to field data received from the front.
This was accompanied by air strikes targeting Houthi military sites and movements in Al-Wazi’iyah, Al-Shamaytain, and Jabal Habashi, in addition to sites in Sharjab, Al-Turbah, and Jabal Qahham overlooking the Al-Maqtara and Al-Ahkoum districts on the border between Taiz and Lahj.
Field sources reported that Houthi vehicles and reinforcements were targeted in the Al-Haql and Al-Qahf areas in the Jabal Habashi District, while the media center of the Taiz government military axis stated that one of the raids resulted in the neutralization and injury of 23 members.
The strikes also affected sites in the Numan Mountains, Al-Saibara, Al-Hartha area, and Jardad in Al-Shamaytain District.
On the other hand, the Houthi group is still pressuring the rural areas south and west of Taiz, in an attempt to maintain its positions and open new paths of progress.
Local sources reported that it took control of Al-Mahsha, Al-Adaf and Al-Arma in the Jabal Habashi District on the Western Front, and advanced towards the Al-Sharq region, amid bombardment that targeted villages in the region and resulted, according to those sources, in the killing of a teacher in Al-Mahsha.
These developments reflect the continuation of the confrontation on more than one axis in Taiz Governorate, as government forces seek to consolidate their positions in the western regions and secure vital roads, while the Houthis are trying to maintain pressure points in the southern and western countryside and around the city.
In an indication of the expansion of military operations, the official spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, announced on Thursday the implementation of 1,729 precision targeting operations against Houthi military targets on various axes and fronts, as part of Operation “Yemen Dawn.”
Al-Nazili said that the operations resulted in the neutralization of 1,370 members of the group, and the destruction or damage of 300 military vehicles, means, and equipment, in addition to targeting military sites, observation points, command and control centers, weapons depots, supply lines, and reinforcements.
In parallel, air strikes extended to eight governorates: Taiz, Ibb, Al-Bayda, Abyan, Saada, Sana'a, Raymah, and Al-Hudaydah, according to local reports.
The targets included sites in the kidnapped capital, Sana'a, a Houthi camp in Yarim, Ibb, sites in Al-Sayyani in the same governorate, others in Bani Matar, west of Sana'a, sites in Kasma, where Raymah Governorate is located, sites in the Jamil Mountains, Jurjura, and Al-Nasreen in Al-Bayda, in addition to Aqabat Thara and other sites in Hodeidah and Saada.
In Lahj, government forces announced that they had repelled a Houthi attack targeting the areas of Al-Aghubrah, Al-Mujabrah, and Al-Mashamara, northwest of Al-Mudaraba District, and restored positions in Jabal Saif, with the support of tribal reinforcements.
Confrontations, mutual bombardment, and drone operations also continued on the southern Marib and Al-Jawf fronts, with raids targeting the Mas camp and sites in the Al-Labnat area.
During the past two days, the Houthi group pushed vehicles and trucks belonging to the so-called “National Center for Blood Transfusion and Research” into the streets, neighborhoods and squares of the kidnapped Yemeni capital, Sana’a, and the governorates of Dhamar, Ibb, Al Mahwit and Hodeidah, in an intensive campaign to mobilize the population to donate blood urgently, coinciding with indications of the increasing number of wounded among the group’s ranks as a result of recent military developments.
Houthi vehicles roamed densely populated areas, using loudspeakers to urge citizens to donate, while local sources reported to Asharq Al-Awsat that the group directed medical workers, neighborhood officials, and its leaders in the targeted governorates to mobilize residents and push them to donation centers, coinciding with the expansion of confrontations on a number of fronts.
The sources explained that these movements come amid a state of alert in health facilities controlled by the group, with an increasing need for different blood types, at a time when hospitals are witnessing, according to local testimonies, the arrival of increasing numbers of wounded Houthis.
Residents in Sanaa and other areas said that the massive proliferation of donation vehicles over the past two days seemed remarkable, especially with the repeated calls over loudspeakers urging citizens to go to the donation points. Residents link these campaigns to recent field developments, amid questions about the extent of infections that prompted the group to expand its geographical scope.
Qasim, a resident of Sanaa, points out that “the Houthi calls this time are more urgent than previous campaigns,” adding: “No one refuses to donate to save a human life, but the question is: Why do they continue to send people to the fronts, and then ask citizens to provide blood to treat the results of those battles?”
In Ibb (193 kilometers south of Sanaa), Majdi, a resident of the governorate, said that the intensification of calls for blood donations “does not come out of nowhere,” adding that the group uses various means to mobilize citizens, without clarifying the extent of the losses that have increased the need for blood in this way.
He said: “People are suffering from poverty, high prices, and deteriorating services, and now they are also being asked to bear the consequences of war and provide blood to the injured.”
In Dhamar (100 kilometers south of Sanaa), sources and residents reported the spread of vehicles belonging to the blood transfusion center branch in a number of neighborhoods in the city of Dhamar, in conjunction with urgent calls for donations, amid what they described as the continued arrival of increasing numbers of wounded Houthis to hospitals, especially Dhamar General Hospital, which increases pressure on health facilities.
In Al Mahwit and Hodeidah to the west, local sources said that the demand for Houthi donation campaigns was very limited at the beginning, which prompted the group to expand its scope within government and private institutions, and to urge its employees and workers to donate.
The sources explained that these campaigns come within the framework of a broader state of alert, noting that their coincidence with military developments has strengthened residents’ belief that large numbers of wounded urgently need blood.
On the other hand, residents in areas under the group’s control are facing a deterioration in health services and a shortage of medicines and medical supplies, amid demands to provide treatment services capable of meeting the needs of civilians, instead of increasing the burden on facilities that already suffer from limited capabilities.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is worsening with the expansion of the Houthi escalation, and the number of dead and wounded rising to more than five thousand since last August, coinciding with the displacement of about 200 thousand people and an increase in suspected cases of cholera and measles.
While the United Nations warns of care gaps and epidemic risks, health services face growing difficulties in reaching the infected and providing emergency care, especially in areas of confrontation and camps for the displaced.
Data from the United Nations Health Cluster indicate that 5,166 victims have been recorded since August 6, including 959 dead, while the data recorded 685 new victims within six days, with an average of 114 cases per day, compared to about 101 cases per day during the previous period, in an indication of the continuing escalation of conflict-related losses.
Taiz Governorate (southwest) stands out as one of the bloodiest fronts in the recent period, as the average daily casualties there increased from eight cases to 109 within a week, coinciding with the spread of fighting to the city of Taiz. Initial reports of casualties were also received in Hadramaut and Al-Jawf, while Lahj and Ma'rib governorates continue to face high levels of violence and casualties.
In parallel with the human losses, the displacement movement is expanding and the pressures on host communities are increasing, while medical teams face difficulties in reaching the wounded, amid a shortage of stabilization points and therapeutic supplies, and a decline in the ability to respond to increasing health needs.
Medical teams working near the front lines face a critical challenge, which is the difficulty of quickly reaching the injured. The lack of casualty stabilization points near the battlefronts leads to wasting what is known as the “golden hour,” which is the critical period during which urgent medical interventions can be provided and the chances of saving the injured person’s life increased.
Level 1 infection stabilization points are one of the most prominent gaps in the current health response. Out of 20 planned points, six points are still without support from partners, which limits the health system’s ability to stabilize infection cases and transfer patients to operating rooms within the first hour of infection.
The difficulty of monitoring the humanitarian situation increases due to communications outages and security risks, according to available data, which humanitarian workers believe does not reflect the full extent of the actual losses. Verifying reports of attacks on healthcare facilities also faces great difficulties as the fighting continues.
The repercussions of the Houthi escalation are not limited to the dead and wounded, as data indicate the displacement of about 200,000 people, including 29,519 families in ten governorates, an increase of 8 percent in just five days.
About two-thirds of the recent increase in the number of displaced people was recorded in Lahj Governorate, reflecting the extent of the pressures imposed by the continued fighting on local residents and host communities, which face increasing needs in the areas of shelter, basic services, and health care.
The displacement movement extended further to the eastern governorates, including Hadramaut, Al-Mahra, and Shabwa. The unified report counts 454 displaced families in these governorates, compared to 201 families on September 23.
In Hadhramaut, the Mukalla Center reported that there are 429 additional families in the Al-Abr area in Wadi Hadhramaut, which have not yet been included in the unified report, which suggests that the actual numbers of displaced people are higher than the announced numbers.
Regarding cross-border displacement, data indicated that more than 3,600 people crossed into Djibouti, a development that reflects the extension of the humanitarian repercussions of the conflict outside Yemen.
In light of the expansion of displacement and the deterioration of living and health conditions, fears of the spread of epidemics are increasing, with cases of cholera and measles rising and immunization gaps widening, in addition to recording alarming rates of acute malnutrition among displaced children.
Surveillance data showed an increase in suspected cases of cholera to 647 cases during the thirty-ninth week, compared to 217 cases in the thirty-sixth week, i.e. a nearly three-fold increase in three weeks.
The increase in cholera infections coincides with the spread of measles, in light of the widening immunity gap due to displacement and overcrowding in areas where affected families gather, which increases health risks for children, especially those suffering from malnutrition.
In another indication of deteriorating health and living conditions, inspections conducted by International Medical Corps mobile medical teams revealed high rates of acute malnutrition among displaced children.
Among the 54 displaced children under the age of five who were examined, it was found that nine children suffered from severe acute malnutrition, and 29 children suffered from moderate acute malnutrition, which reflects the extent of the nutritional and treatment needs of the most vulnerable groups.
Concerns increase as stocks of ready-to-use therapeutic foods have run out in at least five health facilities, and stocks of complementary foods have run out in three facilities, threatening the facilities' ability to provide treatment to children most at risk of complications.
