TAIZ (The Thursday Times) — Houthi attacks killed 51 civilians and wounded 85 in Yemen’s Taiz province in the first 12 days of November, a local rights group said on Saturday, as government forces pressed an offensive against the group on several fronts.
The Taiz Human Rights Center said 13 children and three women were among the dead, and 30 children and 16 women among the wounded. It said the casualties, recorded between November 1 and 12, were caused by ballistic missiles, artillery shelling, sniper fire, gunfire, and landmines.
Three attacks accounted for most of the toll, the centre said: on the Al-Najd market in Al-Misrakh district, on Al-Athawer village in Haifan district, and on the Al-Hadara market in Al-Wazi’iyah district. Together they killed 43 civilians and wounded 30.
The centre also accused the Houthis of abducting civilians, raiding and destroying homes, and attacking property, health facilities, and schools. The Houthis did not immediately comment on the figures.
A disputed market strike
Blame for the deadliest of those attacks, on the Al-Hadara market on November 6, has been contested. Government forces said the Houthis struck the market with ballistic missiles. The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out three air strikes on it and said at least 30 civilians were killed. Neither account could be independently verified.
The military said on Saturday that its forces had carried out 723 air and ground strikes on Houthi positions over a few hours, including 37 air strikes, 56 drone attacks, 89 rocket-launcher strikes, and 541 artillery strikes. It estimated that about 321 Houthi commanders and fighters had been killed or wounded and 117 vehicles and pieces of equipment destroyed or disabled. It said its operations were limited to legitimate military targets and that it was taking precautions to protect civilians. Those figures could not be independently verified either.
The government launched Operation Dawn of Yemen on October 5 to retake territory held by the Houthis, including the capital, Sanaa, which the group has controlled since 2014. A Saudi-led coalition has backed the internationally recognised government since 2015. Fighting has been heaviest in Taiz, a province that overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
A city under siege
The city of Taiz is held by the government but has been encircled by the Houthis since early October. Health officials there recorded more than 5,600 cases of diarrhoea, suspected dengue, and suspected cholera in four weeks, and say many more sick people cannot reach hospitals. The UN migration agency says Taiz accounts for two-thirds of the more than 340,000 people displaced in Yemen since August.
The Houthis have also kept up drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia. On Saturday the US mission urged Americans in the kingdom to be vigilant after the coalition said it had destroyed two drones launched towards Riyadh and the south.
