Yemen's government forces and the Houthis exchange heavy attacks — each side claims it inflicted heavy losses
Yemen's government forces said on Tuesday they had carried out hundreds of air, drone, rocket and artillery attacks on Houthi positions across six provinces, claiming about 190 Houthi fighters killed or wounded. The Houthis said they had killed and wounded a large number of government-aligned fighters and accused Saudi-backed forces of strikes that killed and wounded women and children. Al Jazeera said it could not verify the battlefield claims, and the World Health Organization puts the toll since August at at least 1,771 killed and 7,959 wounded.
Checking in progress
This story is still being checked. Claims below are published as claims — never dressed as facts — and each one moves only when the evidence earns it.
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Key points
- Government forces say they fired 29 air strikes, 39 drone attacks, 62 rockets and 744 artillery attacks across six provinces on Tuesday.
- Their spokesman claims about 190 Houthi fighters killed or wounded; the Houthis claim heavy losses among government-aligned fighters in Lahij and al-Jawf.
- Al Jazeera could not verify either side's battlefield claims; both are carried here as claims.
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- The WHO puts the wider toll since August at at least 1,771 killed and 7,959 wounded, with more than 300,000 displaced.
What happened
The exchange is the latest day of Operation Dawn of Yemen, the counteroffensive the internationally recognised government launched to retake territory the Houthis seized in September. The Saudi-led coalition supports the government's ground campaign from the air, and the Houthis have fired missiles at Saudi Arabia, targeting airports and oil facilities.
Tuesday also brought the two sides' competing accounts of strikes on the capital: the Houthi spokesman accused Saudi-backed forces of 109 air strikes and missile attacks including on Sanaa, while the coalition said it had intercepted Houthi missiles aimed at Riyadh and at the kingdom's south.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That both sides issued the statements recorded here on Tuesday, in the words reported.
- The WHO's wider toll since August: at least 1,771 killed, 7,959 wounded and more than 300,000 displaced.
What we don't know yet
- The true casualties of Tuesday's exchange on either side — each side's figures rest on its own spokesman's statement.
- Whether the strikes on Sanaa that the Houthi spokesman described took place as he stated — the coalition did not immediately confirm them.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (5)
Why this label: The figures are the government forces spokesman's own statement, reported by Al Jazeera, which said it could not verify the battlefield claims. They are carried as his claim, not as a finding.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The Houthi claims are the movement's own statements, reported by Al Jazeera in the same report; the Saudi-led coalition did not immediately confirm the strikes Saree described, and no casualty figure in his statement is independently established.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why this label: The interception is the coalition's own statement and the targets are the Houthis' own statement, both reported by Al Jazeera; each is carried as the side's statement, not as an independent finding about the other's attack.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The figures are the WHO's, as reported by Al Jazeera. They cover the hostilities since August, not Tuesday's exchange alone.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The operation and its aim are stated in Al Jazeera's report and match the operation's course in earlier reporting of the campaign.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why it matters
Yemen's war has escalated from a relative lull into a multi-province offensive whose daily claims cannot be checked from outside — which is why the numbers in this story are labelled as the sides' claims, while the WHO's count of the wider toll stands as the verified frame around them.
Background
The Houthis seize territory, including along the Red Sea coast, that the government's counteroffensive is now trying to retake.
The internationally recognised government launches Operation Dawn of Yemen, backed by Saudi-led coalition air strikes.
Both sides report a day of heavy attacks across six provinces and claim heavy losses on the other side.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published in Checking state — both sides' claims are on the record in their own words, and independent verification of Tuesday's casualties is still awaited.