Yemeni government launches air strikes on Houthi positions

Yemeni rights group accuses the Houthis of killing five civilians and injuring more than a dozen others. Save Share Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government say they have carried out a series of air strikes onHouthipositions and military equipment in the country’s southwest. A total of nine air strikes were conducted in Taiz governorate on Tuesday, including five in Dhubab district and four in al-Masrakh district, the government said. According to the Taiz Military Axis Media Center, affiliated with the Ministry of Defence, fighting is ongoing between government forces and the Houthis in al-Shaqab, south of Taiz. The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedom said on Tuesday that the Houthis had killed at least five civilians, including a five-year-old girl in Taiz during the previous 24 hours and injured 17 others. The organisation accused the Houthis of shelling residential neighbourhoods, damaging at least seven homes. It also alleged that the group had fired more than 180 projectiles across Taiz during the previous 24 hours. The war in Yemen erupted in 2014 when the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God), seized the capital Sanaa and forced the government to flee. An international military coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in support of the internationally recognised government in 2015, leading to years of fighting between the warring sides. A 2022 UN-backed truce halted most fighting, but tensions have been high in Yemen since the Iran-aligned Houthis declared a naval blockade of Saudi Arabian ports and shipping passing through the Bab al-Mandeb strait in July. In September, the Houthis carried out a lightning ground offensive on Mocha, pushing back forces loyal to Yemen’s government from the strategic port city. The same month, the group’s forces again swept through and seized territory along the western coast and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, including the strategically locatedMayyun Islandin the strait. As the fighting in Yemen continues to rage, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, warned that civilians across the Middle East are bearing the brunt of escalating hostilities and has called for all parties to de-escalate. “Civilians are paying an unacceptable price as a result of military operations in the Middle East,” Spoljaric said in a statement....