Daijiworld Media Network - Aden
Aden (Yemen), Sep 6: Fierce fighting between Yemen’s government forces and the Houthi group continued for a third consecutive day on Saturday across the western provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, while a Houthi ballistic missile attack on a key road killed four people and injured 10 others, a military official told Xinhua.
The Houthis targeted the Hayjat al-Abd road in southern Taiz with a ballistic missile while passenger vehicles were travelling along the route, destroying a bus and temporarily forcing the road to close, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Hayjat al-Abd is a vital mountainous route connecting Taiz with neighbouring Lahj province and government-held areas farther south, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Fighting intensified across several fronts in Taiz and Hodeidah on Saturday, with both sides deploying fresh troops and military vehicles to the battlefields, the official said.
The Houthis have not immediately commented on the reported missile attack or the latest battlefield developments.
### Government warplanes strike Houthi positions
Yemeni government warplanes struck Houthi-held areas in Hodeidah and Taiz on Friday, supporting ground forces battling a major Houthi offensive near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a military official told Xinhua.
The airstrikes came amid fierce fighting on multiple fronts in the two provinces, where Houthi fighters had made rapid advances over the preceding 24 hours, the official said.
The warplanes targeted Houthi positions and movements in areas where ground fighting was underway. Details of the strikes and any casualties were not immediately available.
A Houthi military source confirmed the strikes but blamed them on "Saudi aggression warplanes." Saudi Arabia has yet to comment.
As the fighting intensified, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), vowed on Friday that government forces would prevent the Houthis from advancing towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The strategic waterway connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
The latest escalation, which began at dawn on Thursday, has killed at least **90 people**, including **40 government soldiers and at least 50 Houthi fighters**, across the two provinces, according to medical officials.