Yemeni government launches air strikes on Houthi positions

Yemeni rights group accuses the Houthis of killing five civilians and injuring more than a dozen others.

AFPTV video footage shows a member of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces firing a machine gun mounted on a pick-up truck during clashes with Houthi fighters, October 8 [File: AFP]

Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government say they have carried out a series of air strikes on Houthi positions and military equipment in the country’s southwest.

A total of nine air strikes were conducted in Taiz governorate on Tuesday, including five in Dhubab district and four in al-Masrakh district, the government said.

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According to the Taiz Military Axis Media Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Defence, fighting is ongoing between government forces and the Houthis in al-Shaqab, south of Taiz.

The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedom said on Tuesday that the Houthis had killed at least five civilians, including a five-year-old girl in Taiz during the previous 24 hours and injured 17 others.

The organisation accused the Houthis of shelling residential neighbourhoods, damaging at least seven homes. It also alleged that the group had fired more than 180 projectiles across Taiz during the previous 24 hours.

The war in Yemen erupted in 2014 when the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), seized the capital Sanaa and forced the government to flee.

An international military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of the internationally recognised government in 2015, leading to years of fighting between the warring sides.

A 2022 UN-backed truce halted most fighting, but tensions have been high in Yemen since the Iran-aligned Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and shipping passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait in July.

In September, the Houthis carried out a lightning ground offensive on Mocha, pushing back forces loyal to Yemen’s government from the strategic port city. The same month, the group’s forces again swept through and seized territory along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, including the strategically located Mayyun Island in the strait.

As the fighting in Yemen continues to rage, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, warned that civilians across the Middle East are bearing the brunt of escalating hostilities and has called for all parties to de-escalate.

“Civilians are paying an unacceptable price as a result of military operations in the Middle East,” Spoljaric said in a statement.

“In Yemen, the scale of death, displacement and damage to civilian infrastructure, including in Aden and Sanaa, is mounting at an alarming rate. Across the Middle East, civilian infrastructure has repeatedly been hit and lives have been lost,” she said.

At least 46 civilians have been killed and more than 130 others injured in Yemen since August, many of them children, according to the United Nations.

More than 200,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since September, according to the UN’s migration agency (IOM).

As the fighting in Yemen has escalated, the Houthis have carried out a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airports and oil facilities. At least 14 people were killed in separate Houthi missile attacks on King Khalid airport in Riyadh over the weekend, drawing widespread international condemnation.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister promised the kingdom would carry out a “serious response” to the attacks.

Several airlines have cancelled flights to Saudi Arabia and neighbouring countries in response to Houthi attacks. These carriers include Qatar Airways and Emirates, the United Arab Emirates’ flagship carrier.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on Tuesday about regional issues. Merz told MBS that Iran must engage in serious negotiations and accused Tehran of destabilising the region.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has met Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi. Abdelatty said in a post on X that “Gulf security is integral to Egypt’s national security”.

Abdelatty also spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, and urged an immediate halt to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Although Tehran provides the Houthis with crucial financial and military support, several analysts suggest that Iran holds little sway over the group.

也门人权组织指责胡塞武装杀害了五名平民，并造成十几人受伤。

法新社电视台视频画面显示，10月8日，一名沙特支持的也门政府军成员在与胡塞武装的冲突中，用安装在皮卡车上的机枪射击。[图片：法新社]

效忠也门国际公认政府的部队称，他们对该国西南部的胡塞武装阵地和军事装备进行了一系列空袭。

政府称，周二在塔伊兹省共进行了九次空袭，其中五次在杜巴布区，四次在马斯拉赫区。

伊朗与沙特阿拉伯就也门胡塞武装问题举行会谈（共 3 项）：德黑兰能从中获得什么好处？

胡塞武装连续第三天以沙特首都利雅得为目标发动导弹袭击（共3起，此为第2起）

列表 3/3：也门局势升级是一个转折点

据隶属于国防部的塔伊兹军事轴心媒体中心称，政府军与胡塞武装在塔伊兹以南的沙卡布地区仍在交战。

也门人权与自由网络周二表示，胡塞武装在过去24小时内在塔伊兹杀害了至少5名平民，其中包括一名5岁女孩，另有17人受伤。

该组织指责胡塞武装炮击居民区，至少七栋房屋受损。该组织还声称，在过去24小时内，胡塞武装向塔伊兹发射了180多枚炮弹。

也门战争于 2014 年爆发，当时胡塞武装（又称安萨尔真主，阿拉伯语意为“真主的支持者”）占领了首都萨那，迫使政府逃亡。

2015年，由沙特阿拉伯领导的国际军事联盟介入，支持国际社会承认的政府，导致交战双方持续多年战斗。

2022 年联合国支持的停火协议停止了大部分战斗，但自伊朗支持的胡塞武装于 7 月宣布对沙特阿拉伯港口和途经曼德海峡的船只实施海上封锁以来，也门的紧张局势一直很高。

9月，胡塞武装对摩卡发动闪电地面攻势，将效忠也门政府的部队从这座战略港口城市击退。同月，该组织的部队再次席卷并占领了西海岸和曼德海峡沿岸的领土，其中包括位于海峡中具有战略意义的马云岛。

随着也门战事持续升级，红十字国际委员会主席米尔亚娜·斯波利亚里奇警告说，中东各地的平民正在承受不断升级的敌对行动的冲击，并呼吁各方缓和局势。

斯波利亚里克在一份声明中表示：“由于中东的军事行动，平民正在付出不可接受的代价。”

“在也门，包括亚丁和萨那在内的许多城市，死亡人数、流离失所人数和民用基础设施受损人数正以惊人的速度增长。整个中东地区，民用基础设施屡遭袭击，人员伤亡不断，”她说道。

据联合国统计，自8月以来，也门至少有46名平民丧生，130多人受伤，其中许多是儿童。

据联合国移民机构（IOM）称，自9月以来，也门已有超过20万人流离失所。

随着也门战事升级，胡塞武装对沙特阿拉伯的机场和石油设施发动了一系列袭击。上周末，胡塞武装向利雅得哈立德国王国际机场发射导弹，造成至少14人死亡，引发国际社会广泛谴责。

沙特阿拉伯能源部长承诺，沙特将对此次袭击做出“严肃回应”。

为应对胡塞武装的袭击，多家航空公司取消了飞往沙特阿拉伯及其邻国的航班。这些航空公司包括卡塔尔航空和阿联酋航空（阿联酋的旗舰航空公司）。

德国总理弗里德里希·默茨周二与沙特王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼（MBS）就地区问题进行了通话。默茨告诉MBS，伊朗必须参与严肃的谈判，并指责德黑兰破坏地区稳定。

与此同时，埃及外交部长巴德尔·阿卜杜勒拉蒂会见了海湾合作委员会秘书长贾西姆·穆罕默德·布达维。阿卜杜勒拉蒂在X网站上发帖称，“海湾地区的安全对埃及的国家安全至关重要”。

阿卜杜勒拉蒂还与伊朗外长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇通了电话，敦促其立即停止胡塞武装对沙特阿拉伯的袭击。尽管德黑兰向胡塞武装提供了至关重要的财政和军事支持，但一些分析人士认为，伊朗对该组织的影响力有限。