Yemen fighting since 3 September kills more than 300 as Houthis cut the Taiz-Mokha road

Fighting that began on 3 September in southwest Yemen has killed more than 300 combatants and some civilians, according to an AFP tally drawn from military and medical sources on both sides. The figure could not be checked independently. It is the deadliest stretch of the civil war since 2022.

Two officers with the internationally recognised government's forces told AFP that 84 of their troops died between midday on 6 September and early on 7 September, most of them in missile strikes. Four Houthi military sources said 57 of their fighters died in the same window. The Houthis opened the offensive on Thursday with the stated aim of cutting off Mokha, a government-held Red Sea port that has been under fire for weeks, and moving toward ground that looks onto the Bab el-Mandeb.

A government officer said the rebels succeeded on Saturday evening in cutting the road that links Taiz to Mokha. Clashes have been heaviest in Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi in Taiz governorate and in southern Hodeidah. Families left those districts on foot. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Friday that about 1,790 households had been displaced by shelling and ground fighting. Displaced people reached Al-Bareen camp with mattresses and livestock and began to put up shelters.

Government forces said on 6 September they had taken full control of Hais district in Hodeidah and had advanced in western Taiz. On 7 September they said they had taken Al-Labanat military camp in Al-Jawf and were moving toward Al Hazm, with further claims in Al-Bayda. The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of air and cruise-missile strikes across Yemen. Spokesman Yahya Saree said a Saudi-owned Wing Loong II drone had been shot down over Al-Bayda, the third drone claim in 24 hours.

A ceasefire that had held, with gaps, since 2022 broke down in July. Antonio Guterres's spokesman said the secretary-general was deeply concerned and warned of political, economic and security damage for Yemen. Mokha matters because it sits on the eastern shore of the lower Red Sea. Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern gate of that sea, carries a large share of Europe-Asia container traffic and a smaller but watched share of oil. A cut in the Taiz-Mokha road is a local military fact. An advance that reaches the strait would be a different one.

The 300-plus dead in four days sit on top of a war that has already emptied districts and collapsed services. The next numbers that will tell whether this is a raid or a campaign are control of the Taiz-Mokha highway, the status of Mokha port, and whether Saudi aircraft stay in the fight. Those three facts, not the daily casualty dump, will decide if the July collapse of the ceasefire is now permanent.