Houthis shell judicial complex in Yemen’s Taiz city, no casualties reported

Yemen’s Houthi group shelled the judicial complex in the southwestern city of Taiz with mortar rounds on Saturday, causing no casualties, according to Yemen’s state news agency.

The official SABA news agency, citing local sources, said several mortar shells struck the judicial complex in the Jabal Jurrah neighborhood in central Taiz.

The sources said the shells were fired from Houthi positions north of the city and that the attack caused no injuries or fatalities.

SABA described the shelling as part of what it called the Houthis’ continued attacks on residential neighborhoods and civilian facilities in Taiz.

The Houthis did not immediately comment on the report.

The incident came amid escalating rhetoric and military tensions between Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthis.

Earlier Saturday, Presidential Leadership Council member Sultan Al-Aradah said the Houthis “believe only in the option of war,” describing the battle against the group as “decisive.”

The past 24 hours have also seen intensified military activity, including airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in the provinces of Hodeidah, Marib and Al-Jawf.

In response, the Houthis said they had targeted facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Jazan and Yanbu with dozens of ballistic missiles and drones.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and large parts of the country in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene militarily in support of the internationally recognized government the following year.

Although front lines have remained relatively calm since an April 2022 truce, recent weeks have seen renewed military escalation as efforts to reach a political settlement remain stalled.