DUBAI: A surprise Houthi attack killed 11 fighters loyal to the Yemeni government in the country’s south early on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the southern forces said, in a rare flareup.

Mohammed al-Naqib from the main southern separatist group the Southern Transitional Council (STC) said their fighters were the target of the attack in Lahij province.

Eleven fighters were killed while repelling the rebels, al-Naqib said. “The Houthis did not advance a single step,” he added.

A military official confirmed the toll, saying the government loyalists thwarted the Houthi attack, which lasted for five hours. He said several rebels were also killed but did not give an overall figure.

Wednesday’s clashes took place near the provincial borders of Taez, a front-line governorate which is split between rebel and government control.

The attack comes despite a lull in fighting that has held in Yemen since the expiry of a six-month truce brokered in April 2022. While hostilities have remained low, sporadic flareups have occasionally gripped parts of the country.

In March last year, at least 10 soldiers were killed in clashes with Houthi rebels in the oil-producing Marib province, a main flashpoint region.

The Houthis seized control of Yemen’s capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year.

Nine years of war have left hundreds of thousands dead through direct and indirect causes, and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

In December, the UN envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said warring parties had committed to a new ceasefire and agreed to engage in a UN-led peace process to end the war. But the peace process has stalled in the wake of Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea since November, a campaign the rebels say is meant to signal solidarity with Palestinians amid the Gaza war.

Diplomatic solution

On Wednesday, US special envoy Tim Lenderking said the Red Sea attacks are undermining the peace process.

“Successful negotiations are extremely difficult as long as the Houthis continue their aggressive actions,” he said during a virtual briefing.The US designation of the Houthis as a terrorist group puts “additional pressure” on the group that may discourage attacks on ships in the Red Sea, but ultimately a diplomatic solution will have to be found in Yemen, the US Special Envoy for Yemen said on Wednesday.

The Houthis have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians, drawing US and British retaliatory strikes since February. Envoy Tim Lenderking said the purpose of the strikes was to destroy the Houthis’ ability to attack ships.

The Houthi attacks are undermining progress in the peace process in the broader Yemeni conflict, Lenderking said after holding meetings in Saudi Arabia and Oman.

“We favour a diplomatic solution, we know that there is no military solution,” he said.

Saudi Arabia mediating between the Houthis and the internationally recognised Yemeni government “gives us some hope that we can use this moment to get beyond current tensions”, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2024