Houthi rebels kill 16 Yemeni government troops in fiercest clashes in years

Yemeni minister says more than 50 Houthi fighters were killed in the Hodeidah clashes.

Sixteen government troops have been killed in by Houthi rebels in western Yemen’s Hodeidah governorate, officials and medics say, in the most violent clashes in years.

Walid al-Qudaimi, a minister of state and cabinet member aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said on Saturday evening that the soldiers from the Tihama region died during fighting in the Jabal Dabbas area, as violence escalates along the country’s western coast.

In a post on X, al-Qudaimi said the troops were killed “defending their land and dignity” during the battle.

Medical sources told AFP that hospitals in the area on the Red Sea coast received 16 dead from pro-government forces and 22 wounded.

An officer with the government-aligned forces in Jabal Dubas told AFP that the Houthis briefly seized pro-government positions after launching the attack late on Friday, before government-aligned forces mounted a counterattack and retook the sites by dawn on Saturday.

“This was the deadliest Houthi attack in years,” the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

He said Houthi fighters used snipers, which caused most of the casualties, before firing drones and mortars at the positions.

Another military official told AFP that pro-government forces had repelled the Houthi attack in “clashes lasting several hours”.

He said the Houthis also suffered casualties without specifying the number killed or wounded.

The Houthis have fought Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2015.

The group controls the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, including the port city of Hodeidah on the country’s western Red Sea coast. The government, based in Aden, holds large parts of the south.

Front lines have remained largely frozen since a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022, though sporadic violence has continued.

The latest fighting came after the Houthis threatened airports and key facilities in Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government.