The Saudi-led coalition said early Wednesday that it intercepted and destroyed five drones launched toward Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis have largely encircled Taiz, cutting it off from most supply routes and putting civilians at “grave risk,” U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said Tuesday.
The U.N. says the siege of the strategically important city in southwestern Yemen has left many residents without food and other necessities as prices soar.
In a separate statement, al-Maliki said coalition forces had intercepted and destroyed a drone heading toward the eastern region.
The attack on Taiz came a day after a Houthi strike on a government military camp killed 73 recruits, the deadliest strike since the resurgence of the conflict over the summer, according to a senior Yemeni government official.
The conflict has intensified since forces from the internationally recognized government and Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes on Houthi-held Sanaa International Airport in July, shattering a 2022 cease-fire deal that largely stopped fighting in the country’s civil war.
Yemen has become a widening front in the Iran war that began in February — and the Houthis have increasingly launched attacks on Saudi Arabia because it supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Britain said Tuesday that it would expand its military support for Saudi Arabia to include “defensive” air patrols by Royal Air Force jets.
Heavy fighting between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces caused extensive damage in a densely populated residential area of Taiz. Six people were wounded in the Houthis’ deadly attack there.
Resident Zainab Ali said she was away when the strike occurred but returned to find her home destroyed.
“We are a family of orphans, and we do not know what to do,” she said.
Late Tuesday, Yemen’s government forces claimed they had thwarted Houthi attacks in several areas across Taiz and had killed dozens of Houthi fighters.
A strategic gateway to southern Yemen, Taiz has been a focal point of fighting since the civil war began more than a decade ago; it is also one of Yemen’s most important historic and cultural centers.
Houthi fighters began advancing again on Taiz last month after capturing the port city of Mokha, an area vital to controlling shipping through the Red Sea.
The Houthis have besieged Taiz as part of their monthslong offensive, repeatedly targeting Yemeni government forces with missiles and artillery.
“Humanitarian aid must be immediately allowed to enter the city and its passage must be facilitated. Civilians wishing to leave must be allowed to do so freely and safely,” Türk said.
He urged the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces to avoid using explosive weapons in areas where they could hit civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy to Syria and Iraq, told the Global Security Forum in Doha, Qatar, that President Donald Trump “has been clear that he supports Saudi Arabia, and the backing that they need logistically we’ll supply.”
U.K. Defense Secretary Wes Streeting said the British government would expand its support to Saudi Arabia to include defensive patrols to protect Saudi cities from attacks.
The Egyptian government also will deploy air defense systems and aircraft to help repel missiles and drones fired toward Saudi Arabia but won’t deploy ground troops to Yemen, according to a regional official who was briefed on the matter. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to reporters.
The Monday strike on the al-Alam military camp hit while recruits were lining up in formation for a training session. More than 200 recruits were wounded in the attack.
Videos from the area circulated online showed many motionless bodies lying on the sandy ground of the camp.
The recruits were all aged between 18 and 20, Shabwa Gov. Awad Ibn al-Wazir had aid.. They were being trained to provide security in the province and not for combat operations, he said.
Yemen plunged into civil war in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile.
