Yemen’s army claims over 1,500 Houthi casualties in past 24 hours

What the report says

Yemen’s internationally recognised government says its forces carried out nearly 500 military operations in the past 24 hours, claiming 1,540 Houthi fighters were killed or wounded. According to the army spokesman cited by Al Jazeera, the strikes used warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and rocket launchers against Houthi positions in several parts of Yemen. The spokesman said most of the reported casualties were in Taiz governorate, where government forces said they halted a Houthi advance. The report did not give any figure for government losses.

Al Jazeera also reported that government forces closed the al-Houban crossing in Taiz on Saturday. The road links Houthi-held al-Houban with government-held Taiz city and had been reopened to civilians in 2024 after years of closure. A government media official said the latest shutdown was for security reasons after what was described as an infiltration attempt, attacks near the road and a broader military buildup.

The fighting comes after a fragile truce reached in 2022 collapsed in July, according to the article, and clashes have intensified since then. Al Jazeera noted that Houthi forces seized parts of western Yemen in mid-September, including the port city of Mocha and strategic islands near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, while front lines later stabilized. Yemen’s war began in 2014, after the Houthis took Sanaa and forced the government to relocate to Aden.