Houthi fighters clash with Yemeni government forces in country’s southwest

Houthis attempt to cut road linking Taiz to al-Makha in apparent bid to sever government’s strategic supply route.Yemeni government forces are engaged in fierce clashes with Houthi fighters across several fronts west of Taiz province, as the Iran-backed group launches a broad offensive along front lines on the western Red Sea coast.In the latest sign that a return to full-scale war in Yemen may be approaching, Houthi fighters on Thursday attempted to advance to reach and cut the road linking Taiz to al-Makha (Mocha), aiming to sever Taiz city from the coast.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Six months of war between Iran, US leave Arab states facing tough questionslist 2 of 3Yemen’s divided education system leaves students’ futures in limbolist 3 of 3Israel’s multiple wars see finance, defence ministries clash over spendingend of listAl Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from the Yemeni capital Sanaa, said taking control of the port city of al-Makha would cut off government forces from a strategic supply route and give Houthis a foothold in the Red Sea, a key maritime route for oil exports and other global trade.“In order to do that, they must drive out Yemeni government...