File image.
Yemen’s Houthis (Ansar Allah) released footage on September 9 that they said showed their forces repelling an offensive by Saudi-backed government troops in the northern province of al-Jawf, shortly after Yemen’s army announced it had captured positions there.
The Houthi-run Al-Masirah television network published footage it described as showing clashes with advancing government-aligned forces in al-Jawf. The wreckage of a Saudi combat drone, a Chinese-made CH-4, shot down by the Houthis is also seen in the footage.
The group claimed that a number of government fighters had been killed or captured and that military vehicles had been destroyed.
The footage was released after the Yemeni army’s media center said in a statement posted on X that government forces had captured what it called “vast areas” in northern al-Jawf province and cut Houthi supply routes on the eastern fronts of al-Hazm, the provincial capital.
The army media center said its forces had taken control of al-Mutahaffat, al-Masariya Hill and hills adjacent to al-Faraid Hill, north of al-Labanat al-Olya. It also said troops had captured a network of earthworks and trenches extending about 20 kilometers from al-Duhaydah positions through al-Saara to Bir al-Maraziq, east of al-Hazm. The statement said several Houthi fighters were killed, captured or wounded and that government aircraft carried out strikes on Houthi positions.
The military escalation across the fronts in al-Jawf coincided with further exchanges of strikes between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement posted on X that Saudi aircraft had carried out dozens of airstrikes over the previous 12 hours against areas under Houthi control. He said the strikes targeted several Yemeni provinces, including al-Jawf, Saada, Marib, al-Bayda, Taiz and Hodeidah, and warned that they “would not go unanswered.” The claims were not independently confirmed.
Separately, the Saudi-led coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said in a statement posted on X that Houthi forces had launched attacks against Saudi cities including Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jazan using ballistic missiles and one-way attack drones.
Al-Maliki vowed that the coalition would deal with the attacks to protect Saudi sovereignty, national capabilities and civilians.
Saudi officials said the attacks affected areas in the kingdom’s south, while the coalition described them as part of continued Houthi targeting of Saudi territory and infrastructure. The extent of damage and the details of the attacks could not be independently verified.
The latest developments mark a sharp escalation in fighting in Yemen. The ceasefire brokered by the United Nations around four years ago has de facto collapsed.
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