ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 5 — Fierce fighting between Yemen’s government forces and the Houthi group raged across the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah for a third consecutive day on Saturday, as a Houthi ballistic missile attack on a key road killed four people and wounded 10 others, a military official told Xinhua.
The Houthis targeted the Hayjat al-Abd road in southern Taiz with a ballistic missile as passenger vehicles were traveling along the route, destroying a bus and forcing the road to close temporarily, the local military official said on condition of anonymity.
Hayjat al-Abd is a vital mountainous route linking Taiz with neighboring Lahj province and government-held areas farther south.
Fighting intensified across several fronts in Taiz and Hodeidah on Saturday, with both sides sending fresh troops and military vehicles to the battlefields, according to the official.
The Houthis have not immediately commented on the reported missile attack or the latest battlefield developments.
Medical officials told Xinhua Friday that at least 40 Yemeni government soldiers and 50 Houthi fighters have been killed in fierce fighting across the country’s western frontlines since Thursday.
The escalation marks some of the heaviest ground fighting in western Yemen in recent years, raising concerns of a broader return to large-scale hostilities after years of relative calm across many frontlines.
Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. (Namibia Daily News / Xinhua)
