Yemeni government forces claim Houthi offensive has caused thousands of casualties on both sides

Xinhua News Agency, Kuwait City, September 13 (Reporter Yin Zhao) Aden news: The Yemeni government forces said on the 13th that in a month-long conflict with the Houthi armed group in the western coastal areas of Yemen and related islands, the government forces suffered about 2,000 casualties, while over 1,000 Houthi fighters were killed and thousands were injured.

According to a report from Yemen Republic Television citing a statement issued by the Yemeni military organization "National Resistance Forces," the related casualties occurred between August 9 and September 10. The statement said that the conflict began when the Houthi armed group launched missile and drone attacks against the "National Resistance Forces," and the conflict then expanded from the southern part of Al Hudaydah province along the Red Sea coast to the neighboring Taiz province.

The "National Resistance Forces" are led by Tariq Saleh, a member of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and the nephew of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Presidential Leadership Council is a joint leadership body that includes the former Yemeni government, the Southern Transitional Council, and several armed factions.

In 2014, the Houthi armed group seized Yemen's capital, Sana'a, forcing the Yemeni government to relocate to the southern city of Aden. In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened in the Yemeni conflict to support the Yemeni government in combating the Houthi armed group. In April 2022, the Houthi armed group and the Yemeni government reached a ceasefire agreement under the mediation of the United Nations. Since then, the ceasefire has largely been maintained, resulting in a "division of North and South" situation where the Houthi armed group controls most of the north, while the Yemeni government controls the south and east.