TAIZ, Yemen — The toll from days of fighting between Saudi-backed government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels in southwest Yemen climbed past 300 on Sunday as hundreds of families fled, AFP reported.
Government military officials told AFP that 84 of their troops were killed between midday Saturday and early Sunday, mostly in missile attacks; Houthi sources said 57 rebel fighters died in the same window. The Houthis launched an offensive Thursday aimed at cutting off the government-held port of Mokha and pushing toward the Bab al-Mandab strait. A government official said rebels cut the Taiz–Mokha road Saturday evening. UN OCHA estimated about 1,790 households displaced from Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi after intense shelling.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply concerned,” warning of devastating political, economic, and security ramifications. Analysts said the offensive has shattered much of what remained of Yemen’s fragile ceasefire after it collapsed in July.
Sources: AFP via France 24; Al Jazeera.
