Arabic version: الحوثيون يقاتلون للسيطرة على مرتفعات جبلية رئيسية في اليمن

According to Al Jazeera, fighting is continuing in Yemen as Houthi rebels battle Saudi-backed government forces for strategic mountains near the Red Sea. Officials said renewed hostilities have killed at least 674 people and displaced more than 158,000.

Al Jazeera witnesses said the Houthis, who seized Yemen’s Red Sea coast this month including the port of Mocha, are seeking control of the Kahboub Mountains in Taiz and Lahj provinces. The heights overlook the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and Mayyun Island. Control could allow the Houthis to sever the coast from the remaining government-held south.

Yemeni government forces said they struck Houthi fighters and supply lines near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and in al-Bayda governorate, and shot down a Houthi drone in southwestern Taiz. A Taiz military commander said soldiers and allied tribal fighters had taken areas on the city’s outskirts, though Al Jazeera could not verify the battlefield claims.

The Houthis said Saudi Arabia carried out at least 157 air attacks in al-Jawf, Taiz, Saada and Marib on Monday, killing at least one civilian. Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that another attack in Mocha killed six civilians, including two children and a woman. There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

The World Health Organization said nearly 3,000 people have been injured since August 6. Yemen’s displacement-camp management unit said roughly 23,550 families fled across eight governorates this month. The World Food Programme warned that tens of thousands of people are arriving at overstretched camps with nothing, while more than 18 million people in Yemen face acute food insecurity.