Aden (South24 Center)

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Southern forces and allied tribal fighters battled repeated Houthi attacks in Lahj Governorate in South Yemen from Monday through Wednesday evening (September 30), military and field sources told South24 Center, as airstrikes hit Houthi positions near the boundary with Taiz.

The fighting centered on Al-Modaribah, Kahboub and the Subaiha area near the Bab al-Mandab Strait. A military source said a Houthi ballistic missile struck a Nation Shield Forces position in Khor Amira on Lahj’s coast on Tuesday, killing four soldiers and wounding six others, according to an initial toll.

The sources said the Houthis attacked the Al-Aghabarah, Al-Muhawalah, Al-Mansoura, Numan, Al-Khuzam and Dhi Uhdah fronts, supported by missile and artillery fire and drone flights.

A military source said Houthi fighters advanced into Aqabat Al-Mansoura, near the Lahj–Taiz boundary, before Southern forces and tribesmen retook it in a counterattack that left fighters on both sides dead or wounded. The source provided no casualty figures.

Subaiha tribal fighters appealed for reinforcements on the Al-Mansoura and Numan fronts.

On Wednesday evening, airstrikes hit Houthi positions in Al-Hahlouq and Al-Bazilah on the Al-Aghabarah front, and in Al-Mansoura in Al-Wazi’iyah District in western Taiz, according to military sources who did not identify the aircraft responsible. Southern forces also shelled Houthi reinforcements on the Karsh front in northern Lahj.

South24 sources said four Subaiha tribesmen, including soldiers, were killed on Monday while repelling attacks on the Al-Aghabarah and Al-Muhawalah fronts. They added that Southern forces captured Houthi attackers and seized weapons, while the 23rd Southern Giants Brigade and tribal fighters repelled an infiltration attempt on the Al-Muhawalah front.

The Southern Giants Brigades released footage they said showed the destruction of three Houthi vehicles on the Kahboub front and the deaths of those aboard, including a commander and his escorts. They also released separate footage showing what they said was the destruction of an ammunition truck.

Local sources reported Houthi shelling of populated areas in Al-Modaribah and Ras Al-Arah, including the vicinity of Al-Himah market and Bir Issa village.

In a broader military update on Wednesday, Yemeni Defense Ministry spokesperson Colonel Majed Al-Nuzaili announced 468 operations against the Houthis on the eastern front, in Al-Bayda and in Al-Mansoura in Al-Wazi’iyah. He said the operations had killed or wounded hundreds of Houthi fighters.

The battles follow the Houthis’ capture of Al-Mokha and their advance south along the western coast during September toward Bab al-Mandab, the waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

They also follow Southern forces and their allies’ capture of Jabal Al-Bazilah on September 24, and the Nation Shield Forces’ announcement the next day that they had retaken the summit of Mount Numan and Dar Al-Kafir, two positions overlooking supply routes between Al-Wazi’iyah and Al-Modaribah.