Fighting rages in Yemen’s Taiz as UN warns nearly 260,000 now displaced

Yemen’s government forces launched hundreds of strikes on Houthi locations, a spokesperson says. Save Share Fighting has intensified in Yemen’s Taiz province between forces loyal to the country’s internationally recognised government and the Houthis, as the United Nations warns that thousands of civilians are being uprooted. Government forces spokesperson Majid al-Nazili said on Wednesday that they launched 835 targeting operations against the Houthis, known as Ansar Allah, killing or injuring 285 of the armed group’s members and destroying its battle tanks and weapons stores. He said intense clashes also took place in the strategic highlands of Jabal Han in western Taiz, which overlook areas connecting the province to the Yemeni government’s Aden base. Heavy fighting was reported in the Dhubab and al-Masrakh districts. A source in the Yemeni government’s military told Al Jazeera that its air raids had struck Houthi gatherings and infrastructure in the Maafar directorate, south of Taiz. As fighting rages between the Saudi Arabia-backed government forces and the Iran-aligned Houthis, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said almost 260,000 people have been displaced since August. About half of them have taken refuge in Taiz, where fighting is now concentrated, the agency said. In report released late on Wednesday, OCHA said the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has verified 251 civilian casualties, including 57 people killed and 194 injured. Half of those killed were children. “Despite extremely difficult conditions,” humanitarian partners have reached more than 174,000 displaced people since August, “nearly six in 10 displaced households,” providing food, hygiene kits and emergency cash in the first days after they were uprooted, OCHA said. “Newly displaced families say that their most pressing need is shelter, followed by food and cash,” OCHA said. Yemen’s Ministry of Education earlier announced that more than 2.5 million children are out of school because of the conflict. The latest reports come as Yemen’s government forces press on with their “Dawn of Yemen” counteroffensive launched earlier this month to recapture Houthi-held areas, including the capital, Sanaa, with support from the Saudi-led coalition....