Yemen’s government troops fought off a major attack by Iran-backed Houthis on the town of Bayhan in the southern province of Shabwa. The Houthis launched an attack from three fronts from neighboring Al-Bayda province, resulting in heavy fighting that killed or wounded dozens of Houthis.
The Giants Brigades, backed by the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, regained Bayhan, Ouselan, and Ain from the Houthis in January 2022 after over 10 days of battle. Despite the relative quiet on the country’s main fronts since April 2022, the Houthis have launched offensive attacks on government troops in disputed districts. The attack in Shabwa came a day after the Yemeni government accused the Yemeni militia of preventing two aircraft from landing at government-controlled ports in Marib and Taiz.
Yemen’s information minister, Muammar Al-Eryani, has reported that the Houthis, through the Sanaa Aviation Authority, threatened to shoot down a UN aircraft if it landed at a small airport in Marib, causing the flight at Aden airport to be canceled.
The Houthis also stopped a Sudanese plane heading for the Red Sea Mocha airfield in Taiz from entering the country’s airspace. The plane carrying over 100 Yemenis was forced to return to Sudan after the Houthi threat. Al-Eryani described the barring of the two planes as a dangerous escalation.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Mubarak met with UN Yemen envoy Hans Grundberg to discuss the Houthis’ obstruction of two flights and the impact on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis, peace efforts, and Houthi Red Sea attacks. He also informed US ambassador Steven Fagin that Houthis’ attacks on ships in the Red Sea have decreased commercial shipments, increased shipping and insurance costs, and threatened to disrupt food supply to Yemen. The war in Yemen, which began in late 2014, has killed thousands and displaced thousands, resulting in the world’s greatest humanitarian disaster.
