Yemen government airstrikes target Houthi positions near Bab al-Mandab

Aden (Yemen): Yemeni government warplanes have carried out airstrikes on Houthi positions in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces, supporting ground forces engaged in heavy fighting near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a military official told Xinhua.

The strikes, conducted on Friday local time, targeted Houthi positions and troop movements in areas where intense ground combat was underway, the official said on condition of anonymity. A Houthi military source confirmed the air attacks but blamed “Saudi aggression warplanes”; Saudi Arabia has not commented.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, vowed that government forces would prevent Houthi advances toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow choke point linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The escalation, which began at dawn on Thursday, has killed at least 90 people, including 40 government soldiers and at least 50 Houthi fighters, medical officials said.

Both sides have reinforced the fronts in Hodeidah and Taiz with additional troops, armoured vehicles and equipment, according to military sources. The fighting represents some of the heaviest ground combat in western Yemen in recent years, raising fears of a broader return to large-scale hostilities after years of relative calm along many frontlines.

Yemen has been at war since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of the north, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognised government.

(Inputs from IANS)