Yemeni army says it carried out 71 operations against Houthi positions in Taiz

TAIZ — The Yemeni army said Saturday that it carried out 71 operations targeting Houthi positions, military buildups and reinforcements across several areas of the southwestern Taiz governorate amid an escalation in fighting.“Our armed forces carried out 71 precise targeting operations against combat gatherings, military buildups and reinforcements belonging to the terrorist Houthi militia,” army spokesman Col. Majed Abdullah Al-Nuzaili said in a statement on X.Al-Nuzaili said the operations targeted positions in Al-Aqrood, Sama’, Al-Ahkum, Al-Akboush, Jabal Rasin, Jabal Jardad, Bani Omar, Bani Bakari, Al-Kaawash and Al-Athawir.He said the strikes destroyed a number of transport and support vehicles and inflicted casualties on Houthi forces, without providing figures.The operations come amid an escalation between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis in Taiz.Six civilians, including two children and a woman, were injured Friday in Houthi artillery shelling of residential neighborhoods in central Taiz, according to Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency.The Yemeni army also reported heavy clashes with Houthi forces on the northern front of Taiz city on Friday and said it carried out dozens of airstrikes targeting Houthi movements, reinforcements, gatherings and positions across the governorate.Meanwhile, Yemen’s Interior Ministry announced the death of Mohammed Al-Khawlani, chief of staff of the ministry’s Emergency Forces Brigade, during clashes with Houthi forces on the Al-Kadha front in Taiz.The latest fighting is part of a military escalation that began in July and has become the most extensive since the relative calm that followed the April 2022 truce.