2 Yemeni soldiers killed in clashes with Houthis

Two Yemeni soldiers were killed in clashes with Houthi fighters, pro-government forces said Thursday, amid a continuing military escalation in the war-torn country.

The December 2 news portal, affiliated with the National Resistance Forces, said Ali Saleh Abdullah al-Shahtri and Amr Mohammed Mohammed al-Riyashi were laid to rest in the Red Sea port city of Mokha in the Taiz province after being killed in clashes with Houthis.

The outlet did not specify where or under what circumstances the two soldiers were killed, and there was no immediate comment from the Houthis.

According to the website, the two were given official public funeral ceremonies, with their coffins draped in the Yemeni flag and carried by an honor guard in recognition of what it described as their role in the country’s battle against the Houthis.

The National Resistance Forces are headquartered in Mokha, overlooking the Red Sea near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and are deployed in parts of the Taiz and Hodeidah provinces.

Despite a relative lull since April 2022, intermittent clashes have continued between government forces and the Houthis, who have controlled the capital, Sanaa, and other parts of Yemen since September 2014.

Fighting has intensified across several front lines since early July, marking the deadliest escalation since 2022 and leaving dozens of fighters dead and wounded on both sides.

On July 25, the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced airstrikes on Houthi positions in the Al Hudaydah province and Kamaran Island in western Yemen for the first time since 2022.

The Houthis said the same day that they had targeted sites and facilities inside Saudi Arabia with drones.