Yemen civil war intensifies as 192 die in fiercest fighting since four-year-old truce

Yemen’s government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have fought their heaviest ground battles since 2022, leaving 192 people dead in two days and raising fresh fears for shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

AFP and China’s Xinhua news agency, citing Yemeni military and Houthi officials, reported that 26 government soldiers and 31 Houthi fighters were killed in clashes around Hodeida and Taiz in southwestern Yemen. The Yemeni army said a bus traveling on a main road in government-held Taiz was attacked by the Houthis, killing six people and wounding seven.

The latest deaths followed 129 fatalities in fighting the previous day. A Yemeni government official told AFP that Saudi Arabia carried out three airstrikes on positions recently captured by the Houthis in Taiz.

The government plans to send reinforcements from Aden, its interim capital, to counter Houthi efforts to capture the Red Sea port of Mokha and strengthen their control over the Bab el-Mandeb. AFP footage showed government troops carrying rifles and grenade launchers boarding trucks in Hays, between Taiz and the Red Sea, to move toward the front.

The latest Houthi offensive follows a July airstrike on Sanaa International Airport during the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran. The Yemeni government said it carried out that strike to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing. The Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia, declared the truce over and later announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Bab el-Mandeb, including attacks on Saudi tankers.

The Houthis’ concentration of military power around the strategic waterway has revived concerns that Yemen’s civil war could return to full-scale conflict after the 2022 truce. Greater Houthi control of the strait could also disrupt international maritime trade and global supply chains.