2 killed, 16 injured in Houthi shelling across Yemen’s Taiz: Interior Ministry

At least two civilians were killed and 16 others were injured Saturday in Houthi shelling of several areas in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province, according to Yemen’s Interior Ministry.

The ministry said three children, six women and several elderly people were among those injured in the attacks.

It said Houthi forces fired several projectiles at areas including Al-Nawazil, Al-Qasr, Al-Dhabab, al-Thalatheen Street, Samea, Al-Aqrud, Al-Zanouj, Akkad, Al-Dhahr al-Ulya and the Al-Hangar checkpoint.

There has been no comment from the Houthis on the ministry’s statement.

Separately, Yemen’s army’s 22nd Mecha Brigade said in a statement on Facebook that government forces, backed by the Popular Resistance, repelled a Houthi attack on the Al-Shaqab area south of Taiz.

It said more than 25 Houthi fighters were killed and several others were wounded during the clashes, while a military vehicle equipped with a 23 mm gun was destroyed.

The brigade said government forces simultaneously carried out counterattacks using drones against Houthi positions on the Al-Shaqab front.

Government troops also shot down a Houthi suicide drone over the Al-Arous area in southern Taiz, it added.

The Houthis have not commented on the Interior Ministry’s or the army’s statements

The latest developments come amid a military escalation that began in July and is the most intense since a period of relative calm following a UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.