Yemeni government forces hit Houthi targets in the capital Sanaa and in Saada — fierce clashes in northern Taiz

Yemen’s army has struck positions of the Houthi movement in the capital Sanaa, in the northwestern province of Saada and in the southwestern province of Taiz, extending its offensive into the heart of rebel-controlled territory, as Al Jazeera reports. Army spokesman Major General Majed al-Nuzaili wrote on the X platform that government forces struck with air strikes ‘high-value targets in the capital Sanaa’, as well as ’11 high-value targets in Saada province’, without giving details of what they were.

The strikes mark an escalation of the offensive that Yemen’s internationally recognised government has launched against the Houthis, who control most of the north of the country, including the capital. They come just hours after the army announced that it had carried out dozens of air strikes against Houthi positions across the country.

Meanwhile, on the ground front, the media centre of the Taiz Military Axis — the communications arm of the government forces — reports ‘fierce clashes’ with Houthi fighters on the northern front of Taiz, the strategic city in southwestern Yemen where fighting has intensified in recent days.

The escalation in Yemen is taking place in parallel with the wider U.S.–Israel war against Iran, which has entered its eighth month, and as Washington is reinforcing its military presence in the region. Analysts warn that the expansion of the fighting in Yemen risks opening a new regional front, with the Houthis — allies of Iran — controlling the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.