Sanaa, 3 October 2026 (Ghufran): Yemen has witnessed its widest military escalation in three weeks between government forces and the Houthi group, with fighting intensifying in the southwestern provinces of Taiz and Lahej as the displacement crisis continued to worsen. According to government data, nearly 198,000 people have been displaced since military operations intensified in July. The army said it had foiled a major Houthi attack on several fronts in Taiz and Lahej and carried out six airstrikes targeting Houthi positions and vehicles. Fierce clashes were also reported in several areas of Taiz, with government forces claiming to have inflicted casualties and equipment losses on the Houthis. In a separate development, government forces reportedly thwarted a Houthi attack in the Sharie area of Sama’a district, with deaths and injuries reported on both sides.
Yemen’s Executive Unit for Internally Displaced Persons Camps Management said 29,519 families, comprising 197,906 people, had been displaced since the escalation began in July. Taiz is hosting the largest number of displaced people, followed by Lahej, Aden and Abyan. Yemen’s Human Rights Ministry also reported that it had documented the deaths of at least 100 children allegedly recruited by the Houthis during fighting in September, while stressing that the figure represents only cases it was able to identify and verify. The government has also filed a complaint with the UN Security Council, warning of what it described as a serious threat to international civil aviation over the southern Red Sea from weapons allegedly launched by the Houthis toward international air routes. The escalation has spread across several fronts, including Taiz, Lahej, Marib, Al-Jawf and Al-Bayda, amid continuing military and political efforts to strengthen the government’s control and restore stability. Yemen has remained embroiled in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa and other areas in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.