SANAA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 44 people were killed in fighting between Yemeni government forces and the Houthi group over the past 24 hours, military sources from both sides said Saturday.
A government military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that battles were raging across southwestern Taiz and Lahj provinces, with both sides sending reinforcements to contested fronts stretching toward the key waterway.
In Taiz, fierce clashes continued in the Al-Kadha and Al-Wazi'iyah areas, where government forces repelled several Houthi attacks over the past 24 hours, leaving six government soldiers and 11 Houthi fighters dead, according to the source.
"The Houthis sent in large reinforcements and tried to break through our defensive lines at several positions, but the attacks were repelled," the source said.
Further south, another government military official told Xinhua that fighting was raging around the Kahbub mountain area in Lahj, where the two sides are battling for control of strategic high ground overlooking the approaches to Bab al-Mandab.
The official said 12 government soldiers had been killed in the fighting on the Kahbub front over the past 24 hours.
On the other side, a Houthi military source told Xinhua that 15 Houthi fighters, including a commander, had been killed in the fighting taking place in Kahbub over the same 24-hour period.
The latest fighting follows major Houthi gains along Yemen's southwestern Red Sea coast earlier this month. The group captured the strategic port city of Mocha on Sept. 10 before advancing south toward Bab al-Mandab and taking Mayyun, or Perim Island, in the heart of the strait on Sept. 11.
Yemen's conflict erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government. ■
