Counteroffensive Launched to Retake Strategic Positions from the Houthis West of Taiz
Combat units from the Yemeni resistance and the Yemeni army have launched a counteroffensive to retake strategic positions from the Houthis in the western countryside of Taiz.
Field sources said that army units, backed by Yemeni resistance fighters, had recaptured the strategic Mount Naaman, south of the Jabal Habashi district west of Taiz. The recapture came only hours after the Houthi group had established positions on the mountain, which links the districts of Jabal Habashi, Al-Ma’afer, and Maqbana and overlooks the Red Sea.
The sources explained that fighting remains extremely intense, alongside large-scale preparations to retake mountainous positions in the villages of Al-Jinan and Al-Rahba in Jabal Habashi, which the Houthis had infiltrated on Thursday.
The sources also confirmed that Houthi militias had deployed substantial military reinforcements and established positions inside an educational facility in the village of Al-Rahba. They also set up advanced positions on Mount Al-Khazzan in the village of Al-Jinan, in an attempt to cut off the main artery linking the cities of Taiz and Al-Mokha on the Red Sea.
Houthi militias had previously advanced through the Al-Tuwair axis between the Maqbana and Al-Kadha fronts and attempted to move toward the strategic Mount Naaman in an effort to establish full control over it and cut supply lines to several fronts, including Maqbana and Al-Kadha.
According to the sources, forces from the Southern Giants Brigades are expected to enter the front line in the coming hours following the collapse of defensive garrisons affiliated with the Taiz military axis.
The fighting along this military axis has resulted in more than 50 people killed or injured on both sides. The clashes are considered the broadest and most significant confrontations since the UN-brokered truce was signed in 2022.
The escalation on the ground coincided with the Houthis launching around 14 ballistic missiles toward rural areas along Yemen’s western coast. According to observers, the escalation was aimed at disrupting the front lines and isolating the various fronts from one another, particularly the Taiz and western coast fronts.
