At least 15 Yemeni government troops killed

A Yemeni official says at least 15 government troops have been killed in clashes with the Houthi rebels in western Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate.

Walid al-Qudaimi, a minister of state and cabinet member aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said on Saturday evening that the soldiers from the Tihama region died during fighting in the Jabal Dabbas area, as violence escalates along the country’s western coast.

In a post on X, al-Qudaimi said the troops were killed “defending their land and dignity” during the battle.

He said more than 50 Houthi fighters were killed in the fighting and dozens of others were wounded. There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the alleged clashes.

An officer with pro-government forces in Jabal Dabbas told the AFP news agency that 23 other soldiers were wounded in “fierce fighting”.

The officer told AFP that the Houthis briefly seized pro-government positions after launching the attack late on Friday, before government-aligned forces mounted a counterattack and retook the sites by dawn on Saturday.

“This was the deadliest Houthi attack in years,” the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

He said Houthi fighters first used snipers, who caused most of the casualties, before firing drones and mortars at the positions.

The Houthis have fought Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2015.

The group controls the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah on the country’s western Red Sea coast. The government, based in Aden, holds large parts of the south.

Front lines have remained largely frozen since a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022, though sporadic violence has continued.

The latest fighting came after the Houthis threatened airports and key facilities in Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government.


-AFP/Al Jazeera