Fighting intensifies in Yemen, 138 Houthis killed or wounded
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Ghanaian Chronicle
Fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis has intensified, with at least 138 Houthi fighters killed or wounded, according to Yemeni army spokesperson Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili. The Houthis deny targeting Mecca and say they targeted Yanbu, while Riyadh reports several interceptions.
At least 138 Houthi fighters have been killed or wounded in hundreds of attacks carried out in Yemen, according to Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili, spokesperson for the Saudi-backed Yemeni army, quoted by the Ghanaian Chronicle. Al-Nuzaili said the operations targeted several governorates, including Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Bayda and Taiz.
The Riyadh-backed army says it carried out 773 artillery attacks, 44 drone strikes and 37 rocket attacks. The Saudi-led coalition, for its part, carried out 23 air strikes and damaged 86 heavy weapons and military vehicles, according to the Yemeni spokesperson.
The fighting comes amid a new escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. A Houthi spokesperson rejected on Wednesday Saudi accusations that the movement had launched a drone towards Mecca, saying that a drone had targeted a pumping station in Yanbu and that three cruise missiles had been fired towards Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport. Coalition forces had earlier announced that they had intercepted three cruise missiles targeting Riyadh, as well as drones heading towards Mecca and Saudi Arabia’s southern regions.
Riyadh-backed forces nevertheless failed to prevent Houthi attacks on the Al-Buraiqa district in Aden, where Yemen’s internationally recognised government is based, according to the Ghanaian Chronicle.
