Sky News Arabia reported on Thursday that Yemen saw a day of intense fighting, with Houthi forces moving toward a strategic road. The same outlet described the past 24 hours as bloody.
According to Sky News Arabia, Yemeni forces regained positions and pushed back Houthi attacks as battles intensified near Bab al-Mandab, the strait at the southern end of the Red Sea. Asharq Al-Awsat carried a live coverage of the same fighting.
Al-Arabiya reported that Yemeni forces secured control of Jabal Qarafan, described as a strategic hill south of Taiz. Sabaq, a Saudi newspaper, reported four airstrikes and the deaths of seven Houthi fighters, adding that Yemeni forces escalated the confrontations and thwarted drone attacks in Taiz. Iram News reported that Yemeni air forces struck a meeting of Houthi leaders in Taiz.
The accounts differ in detail and scope, and the reports did not give a combined casualty figure or identify the units involved. The material available does not specify which road the Houthi movement was advancing toward, nor how far the advance progressed. Taiz, in southwestern Yemen, sits inland from the Bab al-Mandab shipping corridor, an area where fighting has repeatedly flared.
What to watch next: whether Yemeni forces hold the positions they report taking near Bab al-Mandab and around Taiz, and whether the Houthi push toward the strategic road continues.
