Yemeni forces launch offensive to retake Houthi-held al-Waziiya in Taiz

The mountainous district is key to control of Mocha, the Red Sea port the Houthis seized last month.

Houthis, Saudi-led forces claim victories as Yemen fighting rages on

Forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government have launched an operation to capture a strategic mountainous district from the Houthis as part of a wider push to retake the Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The offensive on the district of al-Waziiya in Taiz governorate on Tuesday came as Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government, intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile targeting the city of Khamis Mushait.

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The operation is part of the “Dawn of Yemen” offensive that was announced on Sunday by Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, to retake all remaining Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, which the Iran-backed group has controlled since 2014.

The media centre of Yemen’s army said in a post on X that the Homeland Shield Forces, a pro-government military faction, have begun “a large-scale operation” to retake al-Waziiya.

“The armed forces have secured strategic hills overlooking the al-Mansoura area, amidst a mass retreat by the Houthi militia,” it said, citing a military source.

The Houthis, however, denied the claim, saying they had successfully repelled the Yemeni government advance in al-Waziiya.

The mountainous district is located west of Taiz, east of the Red Sea port of Mocha. The Houthis had seized Mocha and areas around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait – a strategic maritime corridor – in a lightning offensive last month.

“These are the mountains that the Houthis took control of prior to the takeover of the city of Mocha,” Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry said, reporting from Sanaa.

“If the Yemeni government is serious about taking over the city of Mocha, they cannot do so unless they take over the region in the district of al-Waziiya,” he added.

The fighting came as the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait.

Major-General Turki al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the coalition, said the Houthi missile threats originated from Houthi-held Sanaa and the governorates of Saada and Amran.

“The coalition continues to neutralise the threat posed by ballistic and surface-to-surface missiles and to destroy their launch sources,” he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz airport in Jazan and Najran airport, near the Yemen border, were hit in attacks that wounded three people.

The attacks caused injuries of “varying severity” and material damage, and the injured have been taken to hospital, the authority said.

The Houthis said late on Monday that their forces targeted sites across southern Saudi Arabia, including airports and military sites.

The Saudi-led coalition, meanwhile, has confirmed its participation in the Yemeni government offensive to retake all Houthi-held territory, saying 100 of its fighter jets are providing air support.

Pakistan and Turkiye have also agreed to activate “deterrence measures” under their mutual defence pact with Saudi Arabia and rapidly deploy forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter attacks by the Houthis.

这个山区是控制摩卡的关键，摩卡是红海港口，胡塞武装上个月占领了该港口。

也门战事持续，胡塞武装和沙特领导的联军均宣称取得胜利。

与也门国际公认的政府结盟的部队已发起行动，从胡塞武装手中夺取一个具有战略意义的山区，这是收复红海沿岸和曼德海峡更广泛攻势的一部分。

周二，胡塞武装对塔伊兹省瓦齐亚区发动攻势。与此同时，支持也门政府的沙特阿拉伯拦截了一枚胡塞武装射向哈米斯穆沙伊特市的弹道导弹。

巴基斯坦、土耳其加入沙特打击胡塞武装的行列（共3条，第1条）：这意味着什么？

沙特阿拉伯称，东西输油管道日输油量为580万桶（共3条记录中的第2条）。

也门政府正在对胡塞武装发动进攻（共3条）。情况发生了哪些变化？

此次行动是也门总统领导委员会主席拉沙德·阿里米周日宣布的“也门黎明”攻势的一部分，旨在收复胡塞武装控制的所有剩余领土，包括自 2014 年以来一直由伊朗支持的胡塞武装控制的首都萨那。

也门军队媒体中心在 X 网站上发帖称，亲政府军事派别“国土之盾部队”已开始“大规模行动”，以夺回瓦齐亚。

报道称，一名军方消息人士透露：“在胡塞武装大规模撤退之际，武装部队已经控制了俯瞰曼苏拉地区的战略高地。”

然而，胡塞武装否认了这一说法，称他们已成功击退了也门政府军在瓦齐亚的推进。

这个山区位于塔伊兹以西，红海港口城市摩卡以东。上个月，胡塞武装发动闪电战，占领了摩卡以及曼德海峡周边地区——曼德海峡是一条具有战略意义的海上通道。

“这些是胡塞武装在占领摩卡市之前控制的山脉，”半岛电视台记者优素福·马乌里从萨那报道说。

“如果也门政府真的想占领摩卡市，除非他们占领瓦齐亚区，否则他们不可能做到这一点，”他补充道。

战斗发生之际，沙特领导的也门联军表示，他们拦截并摧毁了一枚胡塞武装向西南部城市哈米斯穆沙伊特发射的弹道导弹。

联军发言人图尔基·马利基少将表示，胡塞武装的导弹威胁源自胡塞武装控制的萨那以及萨达省和阿姆兰省。

“联军将继续消除弹道导弹和地对地导弹构成的威胁，并摧毁它们的发射源，”他补充道。

周二早些时候，沙特阿拉伯民航总局在一份声明中表示，吉赞的阿卜杜拉·本·阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王机场和靠近也门边境的纳季兰机场遭到袭击，造成三人受伤。

当局表示，袭击造成了“程度不一”的人员伤亡和财产损失，伤者已被送往医院。

胡塞武装周一晚间表示，他们的部队袭击了沙特阿拉伯南部各地的目标，包括机场和军事设施。

与此同时，沙特领导的联军已确认参与也门政府军夺回所有胡塞武装控制区的攻势，并表示其100架战斗机正在提供空中支援。

巴基斯坦和土耳其也已同意根据与沙特阿拉伯的共同防御条约启动“威慑措施”，并迅速向海湾王国部署部队，以应对胡塞武装的袭击。