Fighting Escalates in Marib and Taiz as Civilian Casualties Mount

Yemen's government forces say they have made strategic gains in the central-northern province of Marib as they press ahead with an operation dubbed "Yemen Dawn".

The campaign was launched more than a week ago by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, following major gains by the Iran-backed Houthis in September. At that time, the armed group, also known as Ansar Allah, swept along the Red Sea coast, seizing the strategic port city of Mocha and territory around Bab al-Mandeb, one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, said Operation Yemen Dawn aims to retake all territory still held by the Houthis, including the capital Sanaa, where the group has held power since 2014, when the war began.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting and Houthi shelling of residential areas in Taiz, in the country's southwest, have caused dozens of civilian casualties.

Operation Yemen Dawn

In the northwest of Marib province, a military source told Al Jazeera that government forces had successfully taken control of strategic high ground surrounding the Maas base in Medghal district, after intense assaults broke through Houthi defences.

On the southern front, forces along the Saba and Bayhan axes claimed to have captured the al-Muqailat and Jabal Zajjar positions north of Harib district. The government said the fierce clashes forced the Houthis to withdraw and inflicted losses in personnel and vehicles.

The gains on the ground came alongside fierce battles continuing along fronts in northern and southern Marib. Government forces deployed fighter jet and drone strikes, artillery and rocket launchers against Houthi military positions and reinforcements.

The armed forces' media centre published footage it said showed drone strikes on Houthi barracks and vehicles within the Third Military District's area of operations, saying numerous combat vehicles and equipment were destroyed.

Military spokesman Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili announced on Monday that the operations had included 1,879 precision strikes, putting 950 Houthi fighters out of action and destroying 380 military vehicles.

Meanwhile, Houthi-affiliated media reported air strikes targeting Kamaran island and al-Qanawis district in the Red Sea coastal province of Hodeidah, as well as Harf Sufyan district in Amran, in west-central Yemen.

Escalation in Taiz

In southwestern Taiz province, where the Houthis are besieging Taiz city, government forces and popular resistance fighters are battling fiercely along several main axes amid a broad escalation of the conflict.

On the western fronts, intense fighting erupted at al-Dhabab, Hathran and Jabal Han as government troops sought to block infiltration attempts and repel Houthi assaults. Sources in the government forces told Al Jazeera that government troops captured 81 Houthi fighters at al-Dhabab on Monday afternoon.

In the southern and southwestern countryside, fighting intensified in the al-Shaqb, al-Aqroud and al-Misrakh areas. A military source on the ground told Al Jazeera that government forces were engaged in fierce clashes from all directions in the al-Shaqb area of Taiz, with confrontations spreading to areas the Houthis captured on Monday in Sabir.

Also in the southwest, a military source from the Southern Giants Brigades told Al Jazeera that Houthi forces fired a ballistic missile at the strategic Jabal Kahboub mountain range at midnight. The source confirmed there were no casualties or damage to property, with the damage limited to the area where the missile landed far from its target.

Rising civilian casualties

The military escalation has hit civilians hard. Al Jazeera correspondent Abdullah Qatran reported witnessing Houthi mortar shelling of the al-Ikhwa residential area in central Taiz, causing casualties and property damage in numbers that have yet to be confirmed, and sending residents into a panic.

With Taiz under Houthi siege, civilians there are also suffering severe shortages of fuel and essential goods. Yemen's Ministry of Health and Population said on Saturday that medicines, intravenous fluids, medical supplies and fuel at the city's health facilities were "running out".

Against that backdrop, the Yemen Network for Rights and Freedoms recorded 43 Houthi violations in Taiz over the past 24 hours, killing five civilians and wounding 17. According to a report by the state-run Saba news agency, the victims included five-year-old Ahlam Abdulsalam, who was killed when shelling hit her family's home in al-Misrakh district.

The rights group said Houthi forces fired more than 180 projectiles at residential areas, including mortar and artillery rounds, Katyusha rockets, tank shells and drones. The bombardments damaged seven homes, 12 private vehicles and the al-Saeed mosque in Taiz city.

Saba also reported that a Houthi attack early on Tuesday struck al-Safwa hospital, shattering window glass, wounding at least one person and causing panic among patients and medical staff. Earlier, Houthi shelling wounded five people, including three children, in the al-Dhahra residential area and the nearby Beer Basha area.

The Yemen Network for Rights and Freedoms warned that continuous shelling and supply restrictions are deepening the humanitarian situation, and called on the United Nations and the international community to take urgent measures to protect civilians.