At least ten killed and seven wounded in clashes with Huthis in Yemen’s Taiz city

Yemen’s Foreign Ministry has reported that at least ten members of the Huthis have been killed and seven others wounded in clashes west of the city of Taiz, the country’s third largest city, with government forces.

“The government sees the attack as a blatant challenge to all initiatives and efforts aimed at ending the war and achieving peace, and an attempt to undermine efforts to extend and extend the humanitarian truce and impose a siege on the city of Taiz,” it said in a statement.

The attack, aimed at cutting off the only artery linking Taiz to the governorate of Aden, took place in the area of Al Dhabab, west of the city, against government forces and lasted until the early hours of Monday morning.

The Yemeni Foreign Ministry has also called, in the face of “this dangerous escalation,” to take responsibility and condemn these “criminal” acts, especially “in light of the presence of the military team in the Jordanian capital to discuss compliance with the ceasefire.”

Yemen have accused the Huthi insurgent militia of violating the humanitarian and military truce more than 160 times in the past 24 hours, mostly with flights of fighter jets, the Saba news agency reported Monday.

Taiz is a strategic location in the country’s transport network under rebel siege that is considered Yemen’s commercial hub, with Hodeida, Aden and the capital, Sanaa. Hodeida is the country’s main port, while Aden is the seat of the government recognized by the international community. The capital has been under rebel control since the beginning of the conflict eight years ago.

The first UN-brokered truce came into effect on April 2. Since then, it has been extended every two months, with an extension that will now remain in force until October 2, despite violations reported by Yemeni authorities.

The war in Yemen pits the internationally recognized government, now represented by the Presidential Leadership Council and supported by a Saudi-led coalition, against the Iranian-backed Huthis. The Huthis control Sana’a and parts of the north and west of the country.