Yemeni government forces launch offensive to retake strategic al-Waziiya district in Taiz

Forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognised government have launched an operation to capture the mountainous district of al-Waziiya in Taiz governorate from the Houthis. The fighting is part of a wider push to regain territory along Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The district is seen as strategically important because of its position west of Taiz and east of the port of Mocha.

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The army media centre said the Homeland Shield Forces, a pro-government military faction, had begun a large-scale operation to retake al-Waziiya. It said government forces had secured strategic hills overlooking the al-Mansoura area and described the Houthi fighters as retreating. The Houthis rejected that account and said they had repelled the government advance.

The offensive came on the same day that Saudi Arabia said it intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at the city of Khamis Mushait. The Saudi-led coalition said the missile was launched from Houthi-held areas including Sanaa, Saada and Amran. The separate missile incident underlines how the conflict continues to spill beyond front lines in western Yemen and into neighbouring airspace.

The battle for al-Waziiya matters because the district is tied to control of Mocha and the approaches to the Red Sea corridor. The Houthis seized Mocha and surrounding areas near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in a rapid offensive last month, giving them leverage over one of the world's most sensitive maritime routes. Any attempt by government forces to reverse those gains would affect both the local balance of power and wider shipping security.

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The operation is part of the "Dawn of Yemen" offensive announced on Sunday by Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council. He said the campaign aimed to retake all remaining Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, which the group has controlled since 2014. That makes the fighting in Taiz part of a broader military and political effort rather than an isolated local clash.

What remains unclear is the extent of any territorial change in al-Waziiya and whether the government advance can be sustained. Both sides have issued conflicting claims about the fighting, and no independent battlefield assessment was included in the available reports. The next developments to watch are whether the offensive expands toward Mocha and whether the missile exchanges continue to widen the conflict.

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