Clashes reported in Taiz and Lahj in Yemen as government forces say they retook Sanamat

TAIZ, Yemen — Yemeni government forces said on 18 October that they had retaken the Sanamat area in Taiz governorate, as Al Arabiya reported violent clashes in both Taiz and Lahj. The claims come from Telegram posts and are unverified.

What the posts say

In a post on Telegram, Al Jazeera Arabic said government forces had recaptured Sanamat, in the Al-Misrakh district of Taiz governorate, together with "popular resistance" forces. The post was published at about 11:55 GMT. It carried no details on casualties, the length of the fighting or who held the area before.

In a separate Telegram post, published at about 07:56 GMT, Al Arabiya reported "violent clashes" in Taiz and Lahj. The post also referred to an ambush that it said struck 12 Houthis. Its headline does not make clear whether the 12 were killed, wounded or captured. The post linked to a full article, which was not among the material available for this report.

Neither post named the units involved or gave locations in Lahj. Neither said whether the Taiz and Lahj fighting was connected. No government or Houthi statement confirming the Sanamat claim or the ambush figure was available.

Separate reports of Saudi strikes

A third Telegram post, from the Palestine Chronicle, covered wider developments on the same day. It said Saudi airstrikes had hit Yemen. It cited Yahya Saree, whom it described as spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, as saying there were 53 Saudi air raids in 24 hours. According to the post, Saree said women and children were among those killed and wounded.

The post gave no independent figure for casualties and did not say where the strikes took place. Saree's statement was relayed through a social media summary. It has not been confirmed by a news outlet or an official Saudi statement in the material reviewed.

The same post said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had called for emergency parliamentary authorisation to provide military assistance if Saudi Arabia requests it. It added that regional ministers were meeting in Baghdad. According to the post, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed Lebanon, Palestine and the Strait of Hormuz during those meetings.

What is unconfirmed

The Sanamat recapture rests on a statement attributed to government forces and relayed on Telegram. No independent confirmation was available. The number of people affected by the Taiz and Lahj clashes is unknown. The 12 Houthis mentioned by Al Arabiya cannot be described as dead or injured on the basis of the headline alone. The Saudi air raid count and the reported civilian casualties come from one source and have not been verified.

Background

The material reviewed does not give the history of the fighting in Taiz or Lahj. It places the clashes on the same day as reports of Saudi airstrikes in Yemen and regional diplomatic activity. That includes the Egyptian call for parliamentary authorisation and the ministerial talks in Baghdad. The sources do not say how these developments relate to one another.

Further details on Sanamat, the Lahj fighting and the strikes would need confirmation from official statements or from reporting by news organisations on the ground.