Deaths in clashes between the Houthis and the army in Yemen’s Saada undermine the fragile truce

Seven Houthi fighters were killed and others injured in fierce clashes with the Yemeni army in the province of Saada, in the far north of the country and a stronghold of the militia.

The Yemeni army said in a statement on Friday that its forces in the “Al-Razamat Axis” had repelled “a large-scale attack launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militias against one of the forward positions in the Al-Razamat mountains in a desperate attempt to breach defenses and seize control.”

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The statement added that “the Houthi militias deployed a number of heavily armed fighters and launched a surprise attack under intense fire cover, but the axis forces succeeded in repelling the assault after hours of clashes.”

It further explained that “forces stationed at the forward positions stood firm with great courage until military reinforcements arrived and took part in a broad counteroffensive that ended with full control over several Houthi positions.”

The fierce fighting resulted in the death of one Yemeni army soldier and the injury of another, while “seven Houthi militia members were killed, and the remaining fighters fled after suffering heavy equipment losses, with pursuit operations continuing up to the outskirts of the positions from which the attack had been launched,” according to the statement.

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These are the first clashes of this scale in months and they threaten to undermine a “fragile truce” along the front lines under United Nations sponsorship.

The battles in Saada also come after the Houthis sent major reinforcements to several fronts while escalating attacks in Taiz, Al-Dhalea, Lahj, and Hodeidah, in hostile actions that observers say threaten to return the situation to square one.

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