A military source reported that Houthi leader Muhammad al-Aqqas was killed alongside six of his escorts in an artillery shelling launched by the National Army in the southwestern city of Taiz. The shelling had targeted militia posts west of Taiz. Aqqas’ death took place in parallel to battles raging in the Harz directorate of the rural Hifan district east of Taiz. Battles pit national army soldiers against Houthi gunmen and have so far registered casualties among Houthi ranks. Early this week, three Houthi leaders were also killed in the Kalaba front, nestled at Taiz’s northeastern gate, against a backdrop of national army advances. The three defeated field leaders are known by their aliases Abu Fahd, Abu Zaid, and Abu Tariq. This coincided with a new push by the Iran-backed Houthi coup militias near the Red Sea coastal governorate of Hodeidah. Field sources cited new Houthi military reinforcements being deployed to the outskirts of the Al-Duraimi Directorate, south of Hodeidah. On the other hand, the demining project in Yemen, MASAM, removed 4,536 Houthi-laid mines in the first week of December. The engineering teams managed to remove 24 anti-personnel mines, 372 anti-tanks, one explosive device, and 4,139 unexploded ammunitions, MASAM stated. These mines were planted by Iran-backed Houthi coup militia in residential areas and main roads.