Pro-government troops, Houthis trade blows in SE Yemen

By Murad al-Arifi

TAIZ, Yemen

At least 11 Houthi militiamen and three pro-government military personnel were killed late Monday in clashes that erupted in Yemen’s southeastern Taiz province, according to a statement issued by the Yemeni army.

"Clashes broke out after Houthi militiamen launched two attacks on government positions in the village of Al-Sayar in Taiz,” read the army statement.

“But the rebel attacks failed to take any fresh ground," it added.

The Houthis, for their part, have yet to comment on the army’s assertions.

In a related development, warplanes from a Saudi-led anti-Houthi coalition reportedly conducted a number of raids targeting positions held by the Houthis and their allies in the Al-Hana and Wadi al-Faqah areas of western Taiz.

“A number of rebels were killed and injured in the raids, while an armored vehicle was destroyed,” according to a separate Yemeni army statement.

Yemen has remained in a state of civil war since 2014, when the Shia Houthi militia group and allied forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh overran capital Sanaa and other parts of the country.

The conflict escalated one year later when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s pro-Saudi government.

UN-brokered peace talks between the government and the Houthis failed to resolve the conflict, in which some 10,000 people have been killed and three million displaced, according to UN estimates.