The 2022 Truce Had Ended Eight Years of Open War, But the Current Escalation Risks Plunging Yemen Back Into Total Conflict.

Nearly 180 fighters have been killed in three days of clashes in southwestern Yemen, where Houthi rebels have launched an offensive toward the strategic Bab Al-Mandab Strait, raising fears of a return to full-scale war four years after the 2022 truce. The fighting, the deadliest Yemen has seen in years, has revived the specter of the conflict that has ravaged the country since 2014. Since Thursday, September 3, close to 180 combatants have died in clashes between the Houthis, who control the north, and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government based in the south. On Saturday, 26 government soldiers were killed after several hours of fighting in the southwest, while medical and military sources close to the pro-Iranian Houthis reported 31 rebel fighters killed.

A missile strike also killed six civilians traveling on a bus and wounded seven others, according to a medical source in the government-held city of Taiz. The ongoing clashes are concentrated near the Red Sea coast and in the Taiz region. According to government forces controlling the area, the Houthis are conducting a ground offensive backed by rocket fire and drone strikes, aiming to seize the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, the southern gateway to the Red Sea.

The 2022 truce had ended eight years of open war, but the current escalation risks plunging Yemen back into total conflict. The Houthis have not commented on the reported casualties.