Tehran's proxies push South as Yemen's death toll soars

Fighting between Yemen's pro-government forces and Iran-controlled Houthi rebels killed more than 60 people Saturday, including civilians, bringing the death toll to nearly 200 since Thursday, the deadliest fighting in years in a country already devastated by war from 2014 to 2022.

The Houthis, who act as a direct proxy force for Tehran, launched a ground offensive backed by rockets and drones aimed at seizing territory near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, a vital route linking Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal that has grown in importance since Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz.

Yemeni military sources reported 26 government soldiers killed Saturday, while Houthi sources put rebel losses at 31. A missile strike blamed on the Houthis killed six civilians and wounded seven others on a bus traveling between Taiz and Aden. A military official in Taiz called the coming hours "decisive," after rebels seized nearby positions, part of an effort to cut off the government-held port city of Mokha.

Saudi airstrikes reportedly hit newly captured Houthi positions in Taiz, as government reinforcements arrived from Aden. Fighting had already killed 129 people Thursday and Friday.

Yemen plunged back into war in July, becoming the latest country drawn into the wider Middle East conflict triggered by the US-Israeli offensive against Iran in late February.