Yemen’s internationally recognised government and the Iran-backed Houthis are engaged in a fierce struggle for the Taiz governorate, a key strategic area in the southwest of the country. Rashad al-Alimi, chief of the Saudi Arabia-backed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), announced on Sunday the start of a major offensive against the Houthis to regain lost territory. It is expected that this will result in more battles around Taiz, already the site of some of the most recent fighting.
Observers and analysts say that the Houthis are trying to consolidate their gains after seizing much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast last month. For the government, the battle for Taiz represents a strategic and existential struggle for control of the country. Taiz governorate is Yemen’s most populous region, with nearly 4.5 million people.
The flat western coastal region sits on the Red Sea and includes the port city of Mocha and the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb strait. These coastal regions were captured by the Houthis in a surprise and lightning campaign in early September, raising fears the group could choke off international shipping through the strait. They were also key supply routes for Taiz.
Much of the governorate lies within Yemen’s highlands and remains contested between the two sides. The region’s capital, Taiz City, is nestled between a number of mountains and is under government control. It is one of Yemen’s most populous cities and a key source of legitimacy for the Yemeni government.
The governorate sits between Yemen’s Houthi-controlled north and the government-held south. The Houthi advance threatens to isolate government forces from Aden, the southern coastal town where key state institutions are based. Ibrahim Jalal, a senior researcher and policy adviser, told Al Jazeera that Taiz is a city of huge social, political, economic and military importance for the whole of Yemen.
Thousands of civilians have been killed in a devastating Houthi siege and assault on the city, with government forces driving back repeated assaults between 2015 and 2022. Fighting has been focused on Jabal Han, a mountain overlooking Taiz from the west, as well as a key road into the city. Control over this mountain would allow the Houthis to attack people and supplies entering Taiz City from the southwest, Saeed Thabet, head of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Yemen, said.
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