Houthi new ground offensive in Yemen’s Taiz: Escalation against Truce
The Yemeni army on Tuesday repelled a new ground offensive by Iranian-backed Houthi militias in the western province of Taiz in the south.
The Houthi attack aimed to achieve a field breakthrough in the fronts of Maqbanah district in the western highlands of the province, which has been under siege for seven and a half years, in conjunction with UN efforts to lift the siege under the truce.
The Yemeni army said that its forces in the 17th Infantry Brigade in the Taiz axis responded to a violent attack by Houthi militias targeting the black hills in the directorate overlooking a vital line linking Taiz and Hodeida.
The fighting inflicted heavy losses on the Houthis before the militia elements that took part in the attack receded.
The Houthi militias preempted negotiations to lift the siege of Taiz, set for this weekend in Jordan, and pushed unprecedented reinforcements to the governorate’s fronts in southern Yemen to press for the truce to remain on its terms.
The Houthis are adamant that the siege of Taiz not be lifted, that a civilian artery be refused under the truce that came into effect on April 2 for two months, and that the Yemeni government and the Arab coalition have fulfilled all of the provisions, according to the UN agreement.
The Houthis have committed more than 4,500 violations of the humanitarian truce since it came into effect.
“The Houthi attacks are a dangerous escalation in the face of the UN movement, which is seeking to extend and build on the truce to launch a comprehensive peace process, as militias use it to organize their military ranks and bring fighters to the lines of fire”, experts said.
