Yemen carries out 20 strikes on Houthi rebel targets

Yemen’s military spokesman said on Friday that warplanes carried out 20 strikes during the last three hours targeting the movements, personnel, vehicles and military equipment of the Houthi rebels in Taiz province.

The strikes come amid the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-linked Houthis since a U.N.-brokered ceasefire that largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022.

The capture of Taiz in southwestern Yemen would give the Houthis full control over the north of the country, a tighter control over the Red Sea coast and easier access to the south and to the southern port city of Aden, the seat of the government.

The renewed conflict has already displaced tens of thousands of people and could reshape control in Yemen, with consequences for the Red Sea maritime corridors and the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that the Houthis attacked a power distribution station in Medina that supplies power to the Prophet’s Mosque.

A Houthi military source, quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, denied the claim and said its aim was to cover up what he described as Saudi Arabia’s failure to prove an earlier accusation that the Houthis had targeted the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Saudi Arabia said two weeks ago that it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi rebel drone south of Mecca before it entered the restricted airspace over the city. The Houthis denied that they had targeted Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.

Fighting was widespread across Taiz and the authorities had ordered the closure of all roads leading to the province, designating them as military operational zones, six military sources told Reuters.

Around 19 roads were affected by the closures, including the main road that runs from southern Sanaa to Taiz, the sources said.