Aden (South24)

Three members of the Southern forces were killed and three others injured yesterday, in two separate attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in the Shabwa and Al-Dhalea governorates in South Yemen.

A South24 correspondent in Al-Dhalea said that a Houthi mortar attack yesterday morning on Southern forces’ positions in the Battar sector, northwest of the governorate, led to the death of one soldier and the injury of three more.

In Shabwa Governorate, the Shabwa Defense Forces, a branch of the Southern forces, announced that two of its soldiers had been killed in a Houthi drone attack in the Harib border district between the Marib and Shabwa Governorates.

Elsewhere in the country, a missile believed to belong to the Houthis struck the Jahaf district of Al-Dhalea Governorate today, according to Fouad Jabari, the spokesman for the Al-Dhalea combat axis.

Jabari told South24 Center: “We are investigating a missile that was likely a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi militia and landed in the Mashabab area in the Jahaf district of Al-Dhalea Governorate.”

South24 was able to verify the presence of missile debris in Jahaf via photographs from local sources. 

Pictures showing the wreckage of the Houthi missile that fell in the Jahaf district hours ago#south24 pic.twitter.com/rKsXDtTkjr

— South24 | English (@South24E) January 15, 2024

The missile did not cause any civilian casualties near the impact site, according to the military spokesman. The exact locational origins of its launch have not yet been determined.

Additional Houthi projectiles landed in the Al-Mudaraba and Ras Al-Ara districts in Lahj Governorate, as reported by local sources speaking to South24 Centre and verified by photographs of missile remnants. 

So far, the Houthis have not officially commented on the incidents. 

Last Thursday, the Houthis attacked civilian infrastructure using a drone in the Al-Fakher area, north of Al-Dhalea Governorate, causing mild injury to two children and damage to citizens’ property.

On Friday, the Northern militia carried out another attack against the Southern Giants Brigades on the Saqim front, south of the city of Hays in Hodeidah Governorate on the Red Sea.

In a statement following the attack, the Southern Giants Brigades declared that they had successfully thwarted the Houthi attack, costing them human and material losses.

The recent Houthi escalation comes after the US-UK strikes on January 12, which targeted sites linked to the Yemeni militia in Sanaa, Hodeidah, Saada, and other governorates in response to Houthi naval attacks against ships.

Related: How Experts Assess US-UK Strikes Against Houthis 

Today, US Central Command reported that the US Navy had shot down a cruise missile launched from Houthi areas at dawn toward the aircraft carrier USS Laboon in the Red Sea.

The command center also reported this afternoon that the US-owned and operated container ship M/V Gibraltar Eagle had been struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, suffering no injuries or significant damage.

This was in addition to another anti-ship ballistic missile fired two hours earlier against commercial shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea, which failed in flight and hit land in Yemen.