117 killed in fighting between Yemeni government and Houthi forces

Aden, Yemen (ANTARA) - At least 117 people have been killed in four days of intense clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi movement in the provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah in western Yemen, medical officials told Xinhua on Sunday (6/9).

A senior medical official accompanying government forces on the western coastal front line told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that 54 government soldiers had been killed and many more wounded since the fighting broke out on Thursday (3/9).

Two medical sources at hospitals run by the Houthis in Hodeidah province, western Yemen, said 63 Houthi members were killed during the same period, bringing the total death toll on both sides to 117.

A Yemeni government military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that government forces had also retaken several strategic positions in Taiz province, western Yemen, in a lightning counter-attack overnight, hours after Houthi fighters had seized those positions.

The latest escalation ranks among the fiercest ground battles in western Yemen in recent years, raising fears of a return to wider, large-scale fighting after years of relative calm along many of the country’s front lines.

Yemen has been trapped in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthi movement seized Sanaa and most of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition intervention the following year in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.