Yemeni government forces claim control of strategic al-Jawf mountain range

The advance on al-Dahida heights, a strategic highland, comes as fighting escalates in al-Dhalea, Lahij and Taiz.

Troops with Yemen's internationally recognised government make advances in eastern al-Jawf province [File: Yemeni Army handout]

Yemeni government forces say they have pushed further into the al-Dahida mountain range in eastern al-Jawf province, a day after claiming control of the heights in their offensive against the Houthis.

In a statement on Wednesday, the armed forces said troops backed by fighter jets and drones had stormed Houthi fortifications and barracks in the area and seized weapons and military equipment.

list 1 of 3 Al-Jawf becomes new hotspot in Yemen war between government forces, Houthis

list 2 of 3 Yemen gov’t accuses IRGC, Hezbollah of sending 21 experts to back Houthis

list 3 of 3 Houthis’ monthlong siege on Taiz creating misery for trapped Yemenis

Air and drone strikes also targeted Houthi gatherings and depots at several sites, the statement said, claiming the Iran-backed group had suffered heavy losses.

The reported gains are the latest claimed in Operation Dawn of Yemen, which is now in its second month. Government forces spent weeks attacking Houthi positions and fortifications before announcing they had recaptured several strategic overlooks east of al-Hazm, the provincial capital.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of the internationally-recognised government’s Presidential Leadership Council, said the operation would continue until it had restored state institutions and the internationally recognised government’s authority over the whole country.

Fighting is escalating on several fronts.

A Houthi ballistic missile struck a military training camp in the southern province of al-Dhalea, killing eight people and wounding more than 15, a military source told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent, citing field sources, said the missile hit a gathering of recruits at the al-Jumaima camp in northern al-Dhalea. No official toll has been released, and some Yemeni media reported higher figures.

Government forces said they had carried out air strikes on Houthi positions in western Taiz province. In northern Lahij, they said they had recaptured positions in al-Maqatira district, which lies on a key defensive line linking Taiz with Aden, the internationally recognised government’s capital.

Houthi-affiliated media reported four air strikes on a Central Security Forces camp in the city of al-Bayda, and a strike on a health centre in al-Silw district in Taiz. The Houthis claimed strikes from Saudi Arabia, which backs the Aden government, had killed civilians over two days this week.

Yemen’s Interior Minister Ibrahim Ali Haidan said 21 foreign experts were directing Houthi operations : 14 from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and seven from Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Hezbollah rejected the accusation as “baseless”.

Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, civil defence authorities twice activated early-warning sirens in the southern Najran region on Wednesday morning, after a similar alert overnight in the Riyadh region.

On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone over Mecca. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied launching any attack on Saudi territory.

The United States embassy in Riyadh warned that Houthi attacks on the kingdom could escalate quickly. US government staff require special permission to use any airport in Saudi Arabia.

向战略高地达希达高地发起进攻之际，达利阿、拉希季和塔伊兹的战斗不断升级。

也门国际公认政府的部队在东部焦夫省取得进展 [文件：也门军队提供]

也门政府军表示，在对胡塞武装的进攻中夺取东部焦夫省达希达山脉高地一天后，他们进一步推进至该山脉。

周三，武装部队在一份声明中表示，在战斗机和无人机的支持下，部队突袭了该地区的胡塞武装防御工事和营房，并缴获了武器和军事装备。

列表 1/3：焦夫省成为也门政府军与胡塞武装交战的新热点地区，冲突双方为政府军和胡塞武装。

也门政府指控伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队和真主党派遣21名专家支持胡塞武装（名单2/3）

胡塞武装对塔伊兹长达一个月的围困，给被困的也门人带来苦难（列表3/3）

声明称，空袭和无人机袭击还以胡塞武装在多个地点的集结地和仓库为目标，并声称这个受伊朗支持的组织遭受了重大损失。

据报道，这些战果是“也门黎明行动”取得的最新进展，该行动目前已进入第二个月。政府军在宣布夺回省会哈兹姆以东的几个战略要地之前，已对胡塞武装的阵地和防御工事进行了数周的攻击。

国际公认的政府总统领导委员会主席拉沙德·阿利米表示，此次行动将持续进行，直至恢复国家机构和国际公认的政府对全国的权威。

多条战线上的冲突正在升级。

据半岛电视台报道，一名军方消息人士透露，胡塞武装的一枚弹道导弹袭击了南部达利阿省的一个军事训练营，造成8人死亡，15人以上受伤。

半岛电视台记者援引现场消息人士的话称，导弹击中了位于达利阿省北部朱迈马营地的一处新兵集会地点。官方尚未公布伤亡人数，一些也门媒体报道的数字更高。

政府军称，他们对塔伊兹省西部的胡塞武装阵地进行了空袭。在拉赫季省北部，他们表示已重新夺回位于连接塔伊兹和亚丁（国际社会公认的政府首都）的关键防线上的马卡提拉地区的阵地。

胡塞武装控制的媒体报道称，位于贝达市的中央安全部队营地遭到四次空袭，塔伊兹市锡尔乌区的一家医疗中心也遭到袭击。胡塞武装声称，本周两天内，支持亚丁政府的沙特阿拉伯发动空袭，造成平民死亡。

也门内政部长易卜拉欣·阿里·海丹表示，有21名外国专家在指导胡塞武装的行动：其中14人来自伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队（IRGC），7人来自黎巴嫩真主党。真主党驳斥了这一指控，称其“毫无根据”。

与此同时，沙特阿拉伯民防部门周三上午在南部纳季兰地区两次启动预警警报，此前利雅得地区昨晚也发布了类似的警报。

周二，沙特领导的联军声称在麦加上空拦截并摧毁了一架无人机。胡塞武装发言人叶海亚·萨里否认对沙特领土发动了任何袭击。

美国驻利雅得大使馆警告称，胡塞武装对沙特阿拉伯的袭击可能迅速升级。美国政府工作人员需要获得特别许可才能使用沙特阿拉伯的任何机场。