Government forces advance in al-Jawf as Yemen fighting spreads to southern provinces
Military officials report the capture of strategic heights in the east, while a Houthi missile strike kills eight at a training camp in al-Dhalea.
By Noor Phillips ·
Yemeni government forces stated on Wednesday that they have seized control of the al-Dahida mountain range in the eastern province of al-Jawf. The armed forces announced that troops, supported by fighter jets and drones, stormed Houthi fortifications and barracks in the area. Officials said the operation resulted in the capture of weapons and military equipment. The military statement claimed that air and drone strikes hit Houthi gatherings and weapons depots at several locations, causing heavy losses for the Iran-backed group.
These reported advances are part of Operation Dawn of Yemen, which has been active for two months. Government forces spent weeks targeting Houthi positions before declaring they had recaptured strategic overlooks east of al-Hazm, the provincial capital. Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, stated that the campaign would continue until state institutions and government authority were restored across the country.
Fighting has intensified on multiple fronts simultaneously. A Houthi ballistic missile struck a military training camp in the southern province of al-Dhalea, killing eight people and wounding more than 15, according to a military source. The missile hit a gathering of recruits at the al-Jumaima camp in northern al-Dhalea. While some Yemeni media outlets reported higher casualty figures, no official toll has been released.
Government forces also reported air strikes on Houthi positions in western Taiz province. In northern Lahij, troops retaken positions in the al-Maqatira district, a key defensive line connecting Taiz with Aden. Houthi-affiliated media reported four air strikes on a Central Security Forces camp in al-Bayda and a strike on a health centre in the al-Silw district of Taiz. The Houthis alleged that strikes carried out by Saudi Arabia, which backs the Aden-based government, killed civilians over two days.
Yemen's Interior Minister, Ibrahim Ali Haidan, claimed that 21 foreign experts were directing Houthi operations. He specified that 14 were from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and seven were from Lebanon's Hezbollah. Hezbollah dismissed the accusation as baseless.
In Saudi Arabia, civil defence authorities activated early-warning sirens twice in the southern Najran region on Wednesday morning. A similar alert sounded in the Riyadh region overnight. On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Mecca. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied launching any attack on Saudi territory.
The United States embassy in Riyadh warned that Houthi attacks on the kingdom could escalate quickly. The embassy noted that US government personnel now require special permission to use any airport in Saudi Arabia.
