Aden (South24 Center)

Fourteen soldiers were killed and 23 others wounded in a surprise attack launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on military sites belonging to the pro-Yemeni government Tihami Forces on the Hays front, south of Hodeidah Governorate in North Yemen, according to local and field sources.

The attack targeted positions belonging to the 14th Infantry Brigade, of the 1st Infantry Division, in the Mashah and Al-Marjim areas in the Jabal Dhubas highlands. The sources said the Houthis used artillery fire to cover the advance of their fighters toward the targeted sites.

A military source told South24 Center that the clashes began late on Friday in the Jabal Dhubas area of Hays District and continued for several hours.

The source said the Houthis briefly seized positions belonging to the Tihami Forces before the latter managed to recapture them in a counterattack by dawn on Saturday.

The source said the attack led to close-range clashes, due to the element of surprise, limited ammunition among the soldiers stationed at the sites, and the delayed arrival of reinforcements and logistical support.

Despite the heavy casualties, the stationed forces managed to break the Houthi assault before reinforcements arrived from the 4th Tihami Resistance Brigade and the 9th Tihami Giants Brigade. The reinforcements helped retake the positions and force the Houthis to retreat.

Pro-government forces also said they had thwarted a Houthi attack on the West Coast, confirming that the clashes lasted for more than five hours and resulted in dozens of casualties among the militia’s ranks.

The attack comes amid growing signs of military tension across several fronts, despite the general calm that has largely held in Yemen since the UN-brokered truce in 2022.

In recent weeks, Southern forces have announced the thwarting of Houthi attacks in AlDhalea, Shabwa, and Lahj, coinciding with Houthi calls for mobilization and combat readiness.

The field escalation also coincides with Friday’s announcement by the National Resistance Forces regarding the arrest of a “Houthi assassination cell” involved in the killing of journalist Mohamed Al-Aidah in the city of Mukalla, Hadramout Governorate.

The National Resistance Forces said the operation to arrest the cell took place in Aden, in cooperation with the capital’s security apparatus.

The Tihami Forces are one of the main local components of the Joint Forces on the West Coast, alongside the National Resistance Forces and the Southern Giants Brigades. They were formed mainly from members of the Tihama region who fought the Houthis after the group seized Hodeidah and large parts of the West Coast.

Since the West Coast battles of 2017 and 2018, the Southern Giants Brigades have played a decisive role in breaking Houthi defensive lines south of Hodeidah, particularly on the Al-Khokha, Hays, and Al-Tuhayta fronts, before these areas became sensitive contact lines after the Stockholm Agreement and the subsequent UN-brokered truce.