Houthi fighters clash with Yemeni government forces in country’s southwest

Houthis attempt to cut road linking Taiz to al-Makha in apparent bid to sever government’s strategic supply route.Yemeni government forces are engaged in fierce clashes with Houthi fighters across several fronts west of Taiz province, as the Iran-backed group launches a broad offensive along front lines on the western Red Sea coast.In the latest sign that a return to full-scale war in Yemen may be approaching, Houthi fighters on Thursday attempted to advance to reach and cut the road linking Taiz to al-Makha (Mocha), aiming to sever Taiz city from the coast.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Six months of war between Iran, US leave Arab states facing tough questionslist 2 of 3Yemen’s divided education system leaves students’ futures in limbolist 3 of 3Israel’s multiple wars see finance, defence ministries clash over spendingend of listAl Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said taking control of the port city of al-Makha would cut off government forces from a strategic supply route and give Houthis a foothold in the Red Sea, a key maritime route for oil exports and other global trade.“In order to do that, they must drive out Yemeni government forces,” Mawry said. “But we have reports from Yemeni government officials that they have regained control of some of the areas that fell under Houthi control.”Yemen’s Army Media Centre said Houthis had fired 14 ballistic missiles and launched drones at populated districts in the provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah.It said the Houthis launched an attack on army positions in the Maqbanah Mountains, west of Taiz province, and attempted to infiltrate areas of al-Ahtoub, al-Tuwair, al-Kadha and Jabal Ghabari.The media centre said more than 18 Houthi fighters were killed and others wounded or captured as they clashed with Yemeni forces in the southwestern part of the country on Thursday.An unnamed military source, meanwhile, told the AFP news agency that 13 government forces were killed in the fighting. Another military source said most of those killed were on the front lines between al-Makha and Taiz, while the others died in clashes near the Red Sea coast.