Houthis and government trade attacks as Yemen slides back to full-scale war

What the report says

Yemen’s internationally recognised government and Houthi forces traded attacks on Thursday, raising new concerns that the country could be edging back toward full-scale war, according to Al Jazeera. Government spokesperson Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said government forces carried out 81 attacks on Houthi positions in the previous 24 hours and said the strikes killed or disabled a number of Houthi fighters and field commanders.

The Houthis, for their part, said they launched two drone attacks in Saudi Arabia’s Najran province, across the border from Yemen. Their military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the drones hit Najran airport and an Aramco facility, though Saudi Arabia had not immediately confirmed the strikes. Al Jazeera also reported a warning from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, which backs the Houthis, saying Saudi Arabia would struggle to contain the group as the rebels intensify pressure on the kingdom.

The article said violence has increased over the past month along front lines that had largely been frozen since a UN-brokered truce in 2022. Both sides have accused each other of attacks on civilian infrastructure, including ports and airports, while no major offensive has yet been publicly reported. The renewed fighting matters because Yemen remains deeply fragile after years of conflict, and the UN says millions of people still lack reliable access to food.

Al Jazeera also noted that UN human rights chief Volker Turk has called on both sides to avoid actions that could return Yemen to full-scale conflict.