Fighting has intensified in Yemen's Taiz province between forces loyal to the internationally recognised government and the Houthis, as Yemen's defence ministry issued a stark warning to civilians on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.

Source: Al Jazeera

In a statement on Thursday, the ministry of defence warned civilians in Houthi-held areas to avoid any Houthi rallies or “cultural courses”, saying the gatherings would be viewed as legitimate military targets. Yemen's government said it threatened to expand attacks to target rallies staged by the Houthis, claiming the group uses those events to recruit children into combat — a claim by the government side, which the Houthis have not responded to in this reporting.

835 operations claimed in a day

Government forces spokesperson Majid al-Nazili said on Wednesday that government forces launched 835 targeting operations against the Houthis, known as Ansar Allah, killing or injuring 285 of the armed group's members and destroying its battle tanks and weapons stores, Al Jazeera reported. Yemen Monitor, reporting the armed forces statement, said the operations used warplanes, drones, artillery, rocket launchers and sniper units against Houthi gatherings, reinforcements, armoured vehicles, firing positions, fortifications and supply lines. These battlefield figures are claims by Yemen's armed forces and have not been independently verified.

Source: Yemen Monitor

Al-Nazili said intense clashes also took place in the strategic highlands of Jabal Han in western Taiz, which overlook areas connecting the province to the government's Aden base, with heavy fighting in the Dhubab and al-Masrakh districts. A source in the Yemeni government's military told Al Jazeera that its air raids had struck Houthi gatherings and infrastructure in the Maafar directorate, south of Taiz.

What the UN has verified

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said almost 260,000 people have been displaced since August — yaani, more than two and a half lakh people driven from their homes — and about half of them have taken refuge in Taiz, where fighting is now concentrated. In a report released late on Wednesday, OCHA said the UN Human Rights Office has verified 251 civilian casualties, including 57 people killed and 194 injured, and that half of those killed were children.

Humanitarian partners have reached more than 174,000 displaced people since August, OCHA said, providing food, hygiene kits and emergency cash, and newly displaced families say their most pressing need is shelter, followed by food and cash. Yemen's Ministry of Education earlier announced that more than 2.5 million children are out of school because of the conflict — yaani, 25 lakh children.

The fighting is part of the government's “Dawn of Yemen” counteroffensive launched earlier this month to recapture Houthi-held areas, including the capital Sanaa, with support from the Saudi-led coalition, Al Jazeera reported. It followed the Houthis' declaration of a blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Bab al-Mandeb strait in July and Houthi offensives along Yemen's Red Sea coast, and Houthi attacks on Saudi airports — the same regional escalation that this week killed people at Dammam's King Fahd airport and prompted the US to order non-essential embassy staff and families to leave Saudi Arabia.