1,272 strikes on Houthis in 24 hours in Yemen, government forces claim at least 500 casualties

Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen have intensified their military operation against the Houthi rebels. Under the ongoing 'Dawn of Yemen' operation to retake Houthi-held areas, 1,272 air and other strikes were carried out in the past 24 hours, the government forces said. They claimed at least 500 Houthi fighters and field commanders were killed or wounded in the strikes.

Yemeni armed forces spokesman Majed al-Nujaili confirmed the information in a post on the social media platform X on Sunday (1 November).

Al-Nujaili said the precise strikes targeted Houthi positions, defence systems, observation posts, artillery bases, weapons and ammunition depots and logistics centres on various fronts, with the aim of weakening the Houthis' military strength. According to initial counts, alongside at least 500 Houthi fighters and field commanders killed or wounded, 169 Houthi military vehicles, equipment and heavy weapons were damaged. He did not specify how many had been killed and how many wounded.

He said the operations were being conducted to support the government forces' ground offensive on the Al-Jawf front in northern Yemen and the recovery of lost positions. Operations were also continuing in Marib, Al-Bayda and Taiz provinces, he said.

In Taiz, allied Popular Resistance fighters were fighting the Houthis alongside the army, supported by fighter jets, drones and artillery, al-Nujaili said. He claimed maximum caution was being taken to protect civilians and infrastructure.

The army had earlier said it shot down two Houthi drones and carried out an air strike on Houthi positions in the Al-Misrakh district south of Taiz.

Civilians have also been harmed amid the fighting. Yemen's interior ministry said in a separate statement that a Houthi drone strike in western Taiz killed a woman and a child and wounded another woman.

In Al-Jawf province, meanwhile, government forces said they had taken control of the strategic Hawaishiyan mountain range. The range was considered the main defensive line of Al-Hazm, the Houthi-controlled provincial capital.

The Saudi-backed government forces launched the 'Dawn of Yemen' operation on 5 October to retake control of state institutions from the Houthis and recover the capital Sanaa.

According to a United Nations report, since fighting between government forces and the Houthis resumed last July, thousands of people have been killed or wounded and more than 250,000 people displaced.

Yemen has been mired in civil war since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several other provinces in September 2014. In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition began a military intervention in Yemen in support of the internationally recognised government. The relative calm that had held in the country since April 2022 has been shattered by this year's renewed escalation.