Taiz (South24)

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The pro-government forces today announced the thwarting of an attack launched by the Iran-backed Houthi militia on the eastern front of Taiz Governorate, North Yemen.

Local sources reported that violent clashes erupted between the two parties east of Taiz city, after the Houthis attempted to make field progress.

A military source told the Ministry of Defense website ’September Net‘ that pro-government forces were able to blow up a hangar and a tunnel that the Houthi militia were using to target their positions.

In a related context, the Southern Giants Forces announced on Thursday (December 5) that they had repelled several Houthi attacks on the Shamir Maqbanah area in Taiz Governorate. They confirmed that the Houthis used drones and artillery in the attack which was successfully repelled.

In Lahj Governorate, the Southern forces announced that they had clashed with the Houthis with artillery for two hours yesterday (December 6) on the Al-Qurain front in Al-Musaimeer district, and thwarted the attack.

Six civilians were killed and some others were injured last Sunday in an attack launched by the militia, using two drones, on a local market in the Maqbanah District in Taiz.

Separately, Human Rights Watch has called on the Houthis to release the UN employees who are being held without any formal charges for the past six months, and to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid in Yemen.

The organization pointed out the need for the Houthis to fulfil the economic rights of the Yemeni people and end arbitrary arrests. Human Rights Watch also noted that the Houthis raided the homes and offices of the detainees in Sanaa and other northern governorates without legal justification.

In early June, the Houthi militia kidnapped 13 United Nations employees, including six from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, before expanding their campaign to include more than 70 employees of international and local organizations in areas under their control in northern and western Yemen.