Reported by Al Jazeera
Government forces reclaim key territories in Taiz and Lahij but face setbacks under Houthi resistance in certain areas.
Dozens were killed in Yemen on Friday when a missile struck a market in Taiz governorate, with each side of Yemen’s brutal war blaming the other for the attack.
It has been a month since Yemen’s internationally recognised government launched its “Dawn of Yemen” offensive on the Iran-aligned Houthi rebel group after it took swaths of territory along the country’s Red Sea coast.
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As the fighting continues, the humanitarian crisis is only intensifying, with hundreds of thousands displaced so far.
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council has said the government will continue with its “irreversible” drive to dismantle Houthi military capacity and restore sovereignty, meaning the war may get worse before there is any resolution, observers say.
The operation was launched by the head of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen’s internationally recognised government, Rashad al-Alimi, on October 5.
Its aim is to recapture areas under Houthi control and liberate the capital city of Sanaa, which has been under the rebels’ control since September 2014.
The operation has relied on air support from the Saudi-led coalition, as well as ground operations carried out by government military coalitions and units to weaken the Houthis’ military capabilities.
In the Red Sea corridor, breaking the Houthis’ maritime chokehold and securing the Bab al-Mandeb strait has been an essential goal after the group captured the strategic port city of Mocha (Mokha) in September.
After launching the operation, the government said its forces recaptured positions around Dhubab and Bab al-Mandeb the same day, though the extent of their gains could not be confirmed.
It also said they captured mountain positions in Haifan, western Taiz and around al-Waziiya.
By October 13, fighting spread to Marib, where the government forces claimed gains around the Maas camp and north of Harib.
It did, however, lose territory in Taiz governorate, which led to a Houthi siege that continues to suffocate the city as it reaches its first month.
On Friday, the government forces said they had recaptured many areas in the governorate, including…