Yemen’s army says recaptured key territory as clashes with Houthis continue

Two days of fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters has left dozens dead on both sides, sources say.

Buildings lay in ruins in al-Makha (Mocha), Yemen. The city was retaken from Houthi rebels in early 2017, part of Yemen's Saudi-led coalition-backed military campaign [File: Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images]

Yemen’s army say they have recaptured strategically important territory, as heavy clashes with Houthi rebels continue in the southwest of the country.

Yemeni government forces recaptured al-Khazan and al-Makahna hills in Jabal Habashi district west of Taiz city, according to a statement on Friday.

list 1 of 3 Houthi fighters clash with Yemeni government forces in country’s southwest

list 2 of 3 Houthi attacks on Yemen’s Taiz escalate, triggering new displacement wave

list 3 of 3 At least 100 killed as Yemen’s Houthis push towards key strait

The clashes between government forces and Houthi fighters continued for the second day in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, two governorates along the Red Sea coast, after the rebel group launched a broad offensive along front lines on the coast.

A Houthi source told Al Jazeera that more than 100 fighters have been killed from both sides since the start of the offensive on Thursday.

A Yemeni military official told Al Jazeera that 24 government troops were killed near the west coast, while another military official reported the deaths of 15 others in clashes in Taiz. Medical sources in Houthi-controlled areas reported that at least 42 fighters had been killed.

Several civilians were killed and others injured in a ballistic missile attack that hit a restaurant in the coastal city of al-Makha (Mocha), state-run Saba TV reported. Over 120 people were killed in Yemen since the Houthis launched their advance, according to an AFP casualty toll.

Battle for the coast

The Houthis aim to control the hills overlooking Bab al-Mandeb and al-Makha before attacking the coast, a Yemeni official in Aden, the internationally recognised government’s base, told the AFP.

The Houthis captured territories since Thursday mainly in western Taiz including a strategic military base, a government military official told Al Jazeera.

Government military sources said that reinforcements had arrived to counter the Houthi advances in western Taiz, Saba reported.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said that the aim of the Houthi offensive “seems to be gaining territories towards the city and Red Sea port of al-Makha”.

The Houthis controlled the port city of al-Makha, which overlooks the Bab al-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, before being driven out in 2017 by government forces and Saudi-led coalition.

The rebel group declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in July.

The Houthis want to use Bab al-Mandeb for “military strategic calculation which experts believe could be meaningful in the wars to come against Saudi Arabia or against Israel”, Mawry added.

消息人士称，政府军与胡塞武装之间两天的战斗已造成双方数十人死亡。

也门摩卡（al-Makha）的建筑物已成废墟。该城于2017年初从胡塞武装手中夺回，这是也门沙特领导的联军支持的军事行动的一部分。[图片：Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images]

也门军队称已重新夺回具有重要战略意义的领土，与此同时，该国西南部与胡塞武装的激烈冲突仍在继续。

周五的一份声明称，也门政府军重新夺回了塔伊兹市以西贾巴尔哈巴什地区的哈赞山和马卡纳山。

（共3张图，第1张）胡塞武装与也门政府军在也门西南部发生冲突

也门胡塞武装对塔伊兹的袭击升级，引发新一轮流离失所浪潮（共3条记录，此为第2条）

列表 3/3：也门胡塞武装向关键海峡推进，至少 100 人丧生

在胡塞武装沿海岸前线发动大规模攻势后，政府军与胡塞武装在红海沿岸的两个省份——塔伊兹西部和荷台达南部——的冲突进入第二天。

胡塞武装的一名消息人士告诉半岛电视台，自周四攻势开始以来，双方已有超过 100 名武装人员丧生。

也门一名军方官员告诉半岛电视台，24名政府军士兵在西海岸附近丧生；另一名军方官员则报告称，另有15人在塔伊兹的冲突中死亡。胡塞武装控制区的医疗消息人士称，至少有42名武装分子死亡。

据萨巴电视台报道，一枚弹道导弹袭击了沿海城市摩卡（al-Makha）的一家餐馆，造成数名平民死亡，多人受伤。法新社统计，自胡塞武装发起进攻以来，也门已有超过120人丧生。

海岸之战

也门政府驻地亚丁的一名官员告诉法新社，胡塞武装的目标是在进攻海岸之前控制俯瞰曼德海峡和麦加的山丘。亚丁是国际社会承认的也门政府的所在地。

一位政府军方官员告诉半岛电视台，胡塞武装自周四以来占领了主要位于塔伊兹西部的领土，其中包括一个战略军事基地。

萨巴通讯社报道称，政府军方消息人士表示，增援部队已抵达塔伊兹西部，以应对胡塞武装的推进。

半岛电视台记者优素福·马乌里从也门首都萨那报道称，胡塞武装的攻势“似乎是为了夺取向马哈市和红海港口迈赫迈赫方向推进的领土”。

胡塞武装曾控制着俯瞰连接红海和亚丁湾的曼德海峡的港口城市麦加，但在 2017 年被政府军和沙特领导的联军驱逐。

该反叛组织于7月宣布对沙特阿拉伯实施海上封锁。

马乌里补充说，胡塞武装希望利用曼德海峡进行“军事战略考量，专家认为这可能对未来与沙特阿拉伯或以色列的战争具有重要意义”。