Yemen Monitor / Newsroom:
Fierce clashes erupted Sunday evening between forces of the 2nd Zaranik Brigade and Houthi fighters in the Hays District of Al Hudaidah Governorate (western Yemen). The fighting left 6 soldiers from the Zaranik Brigade dead and several wounded, while about 20 Houthi fighters were reportedly killed.
Military sources said the clashes began after the Houthis launched a large-scale attack on military positions along the “Hays–Al-Jarahi line” and in the “Dhu Baas Mountains” north of Hays city, where the brigade is deployed on the West Coast front.
According to the sources, the 2nd Zaranik Brigade repelled the attack after hours of fighting involving various types of weapons and artillery shelling. At least 20 Houthi fighters were killed, while 6 brigade soldiers died and 13 others were injured.
The attack is described as the most intense in the past two years, as the West Coast fronts have experienced a fragile calm marked mainly by limited skirmishes and intermittent artillery exchanges.
The assault comes amid continued Houthi mobilization and the deployment of large reinforcements to battlefronts in Al-Hudaidah, Marib, Taiz, and Al-Dhalea, according to press sources.
Hays is considered strategically important because it links the Tihama coastal plain with the highlands and interior regions toward the governorates of Taiz and Ibb. It also serves as a key southern gateway to Al-Hudaidah Governorate on the Red Sea.
