Taiz, Yemen – Abdullah Saeed, 47, fled his home in the Maqbanah district west of Taiz in 2022, leaving everything behind and settling in al-Rahabah camp in the Jabal Habashi area 90km (55 miles) south.
While he and around 300 other families in the camp have since struggled to meet their basic needs, they at least enjoyed a peaceful life far from the frontlines.
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That is, until the battles came to Jabal Habashi. An attack from Yemen’s Houthi rebels early on Thursday targeted the district and other areas in southwest Yemen, with heavy fighting continuing.
As the Houthis advanced towards al-Rahabah, Saeed and hundreds of other families fled once again.
“Fighting erupted suddenly at night. We were far from the battlefield, but in the morning, we were shocked to see the frontlines near our camp. There was no solution but to take our basic belongings and flee,” he told Al Jazeera. “We had a bad experience when we were stuck in the crossfire in 2022, so we didn’t want to experience a similar situation and fled before the battles reached our camp.”
Saeed said it wasn’t just displaced families at his camp who had fled, but also people from neighbouring camps and villages.
“We have fled for the second time, but there are also families who fled for the first time. We are all now in dire need of shelter and basic services,” said Saeed, who is now staying with relatives at another camp for displaced people.
After four years of quiet along Yemen’s frontlines, Saeed had held out the hope that he would soon be able to return to his home in Maqbanah. But now, with all-out war between the Houthis and the Yemeni government looking ever more likely, he would be happy just to be able to get back to al-Rahabah, where he at least had shelter, a source of water and a familiar place.
“I do not support any military side, but I hope the battles stop soon and we manage to return to our camp, as all we need now is stability,” he said.
Sudden Houthi attacks
The Houthis launched an offensive against government forces on the western fronts of Taiz governorate – including positions in Maqbanah district – early Thursday morning, using missiles and drones before initiating ground fighting described as the fiercest since 2022.
The pro-Iranian Houthis managed to advance across several fronts in Maqbanah, Mawzaa and Jabal Habashi districts, triggering a new wave of displacement. Saudi-backed government forces say they are confronting the attacks and have retaken some areas.
Military reinforcements, including fighters and military vehicles, have been arriving for both the government and the Houthis. The fighting has grown fiercer, with dozens fighters killed on both sides.
It’s the latest escalation in Yemen’s more than decade-long conflict, which has intensified in recent months. The conflict began in 2014, when the Houthis launched a coup against Yemen’s government, and then seized much of northwest Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
Since early August, the Houthis have launched deadly missile, drone and ground attacks against government forces across several governorates, including Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah and al-Dhale.
The Houthis have also targeted al-Makha (Mocha) port in an apparent attempt to push government forces out of the southern Red Sea coast, allowing the Houthis to have more control over the key waterway where they have been attacking Saudi shipping.
Government forces have also attacked the Houthis across multiple governorates, reporting dozens of drone strikes against Houthi targets.
The escalating conflict may draw in Saudi Arabia, four years after it last officially conducted airstrikes in Yemen in support of the government.
Casualties
Yahiya Lutf, a pro-government fighter in Jabal Habashi district, confirmed that the Houthis had launched sudden attacks across different fronts in western Taiz governorate but claimed that government forces have retaken several areas.
“The Houthis launched these attacks attempting to cut the main road between Taiz city and the Red Sea coast, but they failed,” Lutf told Al Jazeera. “Our goal is not only to liberate what they took [on Thursday]; we will press forward beyond that, as our morale is high and we are fully prepared for battle.”
He added that there were casualties on both sides.
“The true outcome of these battles will be clear in the near future,” Lutf said. “I call on those reporting Houthi advances to wait, and I promise them good news.”
Lutf added that troops from various military units are participating in the battles.
The frontlines lie near the main road connecting Taiz city with the Red Sea Coast, which serves as the headquarters for the National Resistance Forces, a government-aligned military faction led by Tareq Saleh, nephew of the late former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
A Houthi source in Sanaa told Al Jazeera that the recent battles are part of the group’s “efforts to break the siege on Yemenis”.
“We are engaged in battle to break the siege on Yemen, especially at sea. This is not just the goal of Ansar Allah [the Houthis], but the desire of all Yemenis,” he said.
The source declined to provide further details, while Houthi media outlets have also refrained from publishing details on the fighting.
Regional factor
Yemeni journalist Odai al-Dokhaini believes the frontlines hold strategic importance as severing the road linking Taiz to al-Makha – as Houthi fighters attempted on Thursday – would impact both cities. The route serves as a vital lifeline for transporting food and goods from al-Makha.
“The Houthis selected these current frontlines for their strategic location,” al-Dokhaini said. “If they succeed in isolating the Red Sea coast fronts, they can begin targeting them individually.”
Yemeni political analyst Abdulsattar al-Shamiri tied the developments to wider events in the region – most notably the US war on Iran.
“This battle cannot be viewed in isolation,” al-Shamiri said. “The Houthis have been pushing to seize more territory along the Red Sea.”
He believes that the attacks are part of a wider strategy by Iran and its allies to project strength, “giving Tehran another point of leverage alongside the Strait of Hormuz”.
