Houthi Assault Kills 14 Yemeni Government Troops Near Hodeidah

ADEN-An attack by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement killed 14 troops from the country’s internationally recognized government near the Red Sea city of Hodeidah, a military official said on Sunday, marking one of the deadliest clashes between the two sides in recent months.

The government-aligned military official told AFP that Houthi fighters launched the assault in the Hays district, south of Hodeidah, before dawn on Saturday. The attack triggered fighting that lasted for several hours as government forces sought to repel the offensive.

According to the official, 14 government soldiers were killed during the clashes. He added that Houthi forces also suffered casualties, including dead and wounded fighters, but did not provide figures for losses on the rebel side.

The Houthis have been fighting Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2015 in a conflict that has caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, either directly or indirectly, and created one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.

The movement controls the capital, Sanaa, along with much of northern Yemen, including the strategic Red Sea port of Hodeidah. The internationally recognized government, backed by Saudi Arabia, retains control over much of the country’s south and operates from the southern city of Aden.

Although large-scale front-line fighting has declined since a United Nations-brokered truce took effect in 2022, the agreement did not develop into a permanent political settlement, and sporadic military confrontations have continued across several parts of the country.

The latest clash comes amid renewed regional tensions involving the Houthis. On Friday, the group threatened Saudi Arabian airports and other critical infrastructure after accusing Riyadh of preventing an Iranian aircraft from landing.

The Houthis are part of what Iran describes as the “axis of resistance,” a regional network of allied armed groups opposed to Israel and the United States. The movement has increasingly linked its military posture to wider regional developments while continuing its long-running conflict with Yemen’s government.

Neither the Houthis nor independent monitors immediately commented on the government’s account of the fighting or the reported casualty figures.