Yemeni gov’t forces report advances as Houthis say deadly strikes hit Sanaa

What the report says

Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Houthi movement each reported battlefield developments on Saturday, highlighting how the war continues to produce heavy civilian losses. In Marib province, government forces said they repelled Houthi assaults with support from warplanes and drones, while also claiming gains in nearby al-Jawf as part of a longer-running campaign to retake territory. The Al Jazeera report said those assertions could not be independently verified.

At the same time, the Houthi-run Saba news agency said strikes hit al-Shariya village in Sanaa province, north of the capital, killing at least 27 people and wounding about 30. A health ministry spokesman in Sanaa said many of the victims were women and children. The Houthis blamed the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s government, while coalition and Saudi officials had not commented in the report.

Al Jazeera said the latest claims fit a broader pattern in which both sides accuse each other of attacks that harm civilians. The report also noted that the fighting came a day after another deadly incident in Taiz, and that the Houthis separately said they had launched attacks on Saudi targets, including in Riyadh and other locations. The broader context is Yemen’s years-long conflict, which has repeatedly placed civilians at the center of the violence and deepened the country’s humanitarian crisis.