Yemen army says hundreds of strikes killed 700 Houthis

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Government forces say 257 operations targeted Houthi positions

Yemen’s internationally recognised government forces say they have carried out hundreds of strikes against Houthi positions in recent days, claiming the operations killed at least 700 fighters as fighting intensified across several parts of the country.

Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, spokesman for the government forces, said on Saturday that the military had conducted 257 precision operations targeting Houthi sites, movements and military capabilities.

Al-Nazili said the operations involved warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and rocket launchers.

He claimed the strikes killed at least 700 Houthi fighters and destroyed 170 combat vehicles and pieces of heavy military equipment.

The spokesman did not provide figures for casualties among government forces, while the Houthi movement has not independently confirmed the reported losses.

Al-Nazili said the operations targeted areas including Sanaa, Midi, Baqim and front lines in al-Jawf, Marib, al-Bayda and Lahij, with the heaviest fighting concentrated around Taiz.

The government spokesman had claimed a day earlier that nearly 500 military operations over a 24-hour period had killed or wounded 1,540 Houthi fighters.

Taiz has emerged as a major flashpoint in the renewed fighting between government forces and the Houthis.

Residents have reported heavy artillery exchanges around the city, while government forces and Houthi fighters have clashed across several fronts.

Al Jazeera reported that civilians had been killed in the fighting, including a baby who died from shrapnel injuries after a shell struck a residential area in Dhubab.

Government forces also said they had taken control of the Samaa fort southeast of Taiz following heavy clashes.

Yemeni authorities have also closed the al-Houban crossing in Taiz, a key road connecting Houthi-held al-Houban with government-controlled Taiz city.

Government officials said the crossing was closed for security reasons following an alleged attempt by Houthi fighters to infiltrate Taiz, as well as attacks in the area and an increase in military activity.

The crossing had previously remained closed for nine years before being reopened to civilians in 2024 on humanitarian grounds.

Yemen’s renewed fighting has caused large-scale displacement, with hundreds of thousands of people reportedly forced to leave their homes since the latest escalation.

A fragile truce between the Yemeni government and Houthis reached in 2022 collapsed in July, after which fighting intensified.

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