Yemen’s government announces operation as Houthis cut Taiz–Aden road
Rashad al-Alimi says military operations have begun to retake Houthi-held territory. Security and military sources say the group has taken control of a key area on the main route to Taiz.
Yemen’s presidential council head, Rashad al-Alimi, has announced military operations to retake territory held by Houthi forces, as fighting around the government-held city of Taiz continues.
Al-Alimi said on Sunday that forces should begin their assigned missions under approved plans. The announcement did not specify the operation’s scope or progress.
Security and military sources told AFP that Houthi forces had taken control of al-Safiya, cut the main road linking Taiz with Aden and halted traffic. The city remains under government control, but the route closure has effectively isolated it from Aden, according to those sources.
Taiz has long been besieged by Houthi forces from the north, east and west, and is a major front in Yemen’s civil war. The conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa; a Saudi-led coalition intervened in support of the government the following year.
France 24 reported that fighting reignited in July and intensified in September, when Houthi forces seized much of the Red Sea coast. Separately, Houthi media reported Saudi strikes in al-Jawf and Saada that wounded at least two people; those claims were not independently confirmed in the supplied reporting.
