Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi has reported the start of a large-scale military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis, with the aim of recapturing territory they control and restoring government authority across the country.
Reuters reports this.
Meanwhile, the Houthis said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco facilities in Riyadh and the Khurais area of Saudi Arabia. They said the attacks were in response to about 50 Saudi air and missile strikes on Yemen in the past 12 hours. Saudi Arabia has not yet confirmed the claims.
The Houthis have stepped up their offensive in recent weeks, capturing the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. They have also advanced near the city of Taiz in the past 48 hours and are close to the last road connecting it to the port city of Aden, according to Reuters military sources.
If the Houthis gain control of this road, Taiz could be under siege. The city is home to hundreds of thousands of civilians and thousands of government troops.
Yemeni journalist and political analyst Mohammed al-Qadi believes that capturing these territories will also help the Houthis strengthen control over the coast in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area and complicate future attempts by government forces to retake them.
- Yemen has been in a state of civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and ousted the internationally recognized government. In 2015, Saudi Arabia led a coalition of Arab countries in support of the Yemeni government and launched a military campaign against the Houthis.
- A UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022 largely halted large-scale fighting. However, the conflict has flared up again this year, with fighting between the Houthis and government forces intensifying.
- According to the World Food Programme (WFP), three out of four families in Yemen are facing hunger due to increased fighting in some areas.
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