Yemen carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets in Taiz province,

The military spokesperson for Yemen's internationally recognized government said on Friday that warplanes carried out 20 strikes over the past three hours targeting Houthi movements, personnel, vehicles and military equipment in Taiz province.



The strikes come amid the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022.



Unchallenged occupation of southwestern Yemen's Taiz would give the Houthis full control over the country's north, a tighter grip on the Red Sea coast and easier access to the south and the southern port city of Aden, seat of the government.



The renewed conflict has already displaced tens of thousands of people and could reshape control in Yemen, with implications for Red Sea shipping lanes and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.



Saudi Arabia said on Thursday the Houthis attacked a power distribution station in Medina that supplies electricity to the Prophet's Mosque.