Seven Killed as Airstrike Hits Yemen Market Amid Renewed Fighting

 

At least seven people were killed and 40 others injured after an airstrike hit a market in Yemen’s southwestern Taiz province on Sunday, as renewed fighting between Houthi forces and troops loyal to the country’s internationally recognised government intensified.

Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said commercial shops at a market in the Al-Taiziyah district were hit, with children among those injured. Emergency teams were deployed to the scene as the wounded were taken to medical facilities for treatment, according to reports from Houthi-controlled authorities.

Houthi authorities blamed Saudi Arabia for the attack, saying Saudi warplanes carried out the strike. However, government-aligned military sources said Houthi fighters had established a military camp near the market, suggesting that the area had become part of the wider military confrontation.

 The competing accounts could not immediately be independently verified.

The latest attack came amid some of the heaviest fighting seen in Yemen since the United Nations-backed truce of 2022 significantly reduced large-scale hostilities. In recent weeks, Houthi forces have made major advances along the Red Sea coast, including around the strategic port of Mocha and areas near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The strategic importance of the fighting has heightened international concern. The Bab al-Mandab is a major maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, and recent Houthi gains along the coast have raised concerns over shipping and regional security.

 Reports say nearly 130,000 people have been displaced by the latest escalation.

Government forces have continued military operations against Houthi positions, supply routes and weapons facilities, while the Houthis have sought to consolidate their recent territorial gains and push into strategic highlands around Taiz. The fighting has increasingly centred on positions overlooking the Red Sea coast and Bab al-Mandab.

The latest civilian casualties have renewed fears of a broader humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where years of war have already left millions facing displacement, food insecurity and economic hardship. With fighting again spreading across strategically important areas, international concern is growing that the relative calm achieved after the 2022 truce may be giving way to a wider conflict.