The situation has raised concerns about shipping routes in the Bab al-Mandeb strait
Photo : AP
Fighting in Yemen has escalated sharply, with the Houthi movement claiming attacks on major Saudi targets as the internationally recognised Yemeni government launches a new offensive to retake territory held by the group.
The Houthis said they struck King Khalid Airport in Riyadh, disrupting air traffic, and an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, which they said caught fire. They also claimed attacks on Abha Airport, the Khamis Mushait airbase and other sites in Asir, Najran and Jizan.
The claims have not been independently verified.
The group warned airlines to stop flying through Saudi airspace, describing it as “a theater for our operations”, while making an exception for airspace over Mecca and Medina.
The Houthis said the attacks were retaliation for 60 Saudi airstrikes and a missile attack on areas including Sanaa, al-Jawf, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and Marib over a 24-hour period. They said civilians had been killed and claimed 1,576 Saudi strikes had hit Yemen since the latest escalation began.
The developments come as Yemen’s internationally recognised government has announced a major military campaign aimed at retaking all territory controlled by the Houthis.
President Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the executive body of the Yemeni government, said forces had been ordered to begin operations to restore state authority across the country.
“We have instructed the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned tasks under an approved plan until the country is liberated from the Houthis,” he said.
The announcement follows weeks of heavy fighting and Houthi advances along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and around the strategically important city of Taiz.
On Monday, Yemeni government forces said they had launched a “strategic” offensive towards Sanaa, the capital that the Houthis have controlled since 2014.
The government also said its forces had retaken the Dhubab district on Yemen’s western coast near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The Houthis denied the claim.
The Yemeni government later said its forces had also captured the port city of Mocha.
Fighting Intensifies
The Yemeni government army said on Monday that 1,747 Houthi fighters had been “neutralised” during 1,122 military operations in Saada, al-Jawf and Taiz governorates and along the western coast.
Military spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said the operations had targeted artillery and rocket positions, fortifications, supply routes, reinforcements and command centres. He said warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers had been used, while 364 military and logistical vehicles had been destroyed or disabled.
The front line has also intensified in Marib governorate in north-eastern Yemen.
A military source told Al Jazeera that government forces had attacked Houthi positions on the Raghwan front, alongside air raids targeting positions and reinforcements.
The source said strikes targeted positions near Mount Helan, as well as an arms depot and military reinforcements north-west of Marib. On Sunday, a Saudi-led coalition said its forces had carried out 97 attacks against Houthi reinforcements around Taiz and the Tor al-Baha front, using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers.
In Taiz, Al Jazeera’s Yemen bureau chief Saeed Thabet said Houthi forces were using guerrilla tactics in rural areas around the strategic city. He said the operations were intended to ease pressure on the coastal front and tighten the blockade of the road to Aden.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have controlled Sanaa and much of Yemen’s populous north-west since 2014.
Saudi Arabia intervened militarily the following year at the head of a coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government, but failed to dislodge the Houthis.
A UN-brokered truce in 2022 brought several years of relative calm. Fighting has intensified again in recent weeks, particularly along the Red Sea coast and around Taiz. The latest escalation has also raised concerns over the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a strategically important waterway connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and a major route for international shipping.
The Houthis launched a rapid offensive last month, capturing about 150km of Red Sea coastline and areas around Bab al-Mandeb, according to the account provided.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced since the latest fighting intensified, according to the supplied figures.
Yemeni defence analyst Ibrahim Jalal said the government and its allies faced a formidable opponent. He said the Houthis’ missile arsenal, drone precision and military “capabilities have grown” with support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Jalal also said the Houthis’ involvement in the US-Israel war on Iran had strengthened their position within Tehran’s “axis of resistance” and provided the IRGC with a way to shift pressure from the Strait of Hormuz towards Bab al-Mandeb.
What Does Yemen’s Government Want?
The government’s stated aim is to regain Houthi-held territory and restore state authority across Yemen. Military sources told Reuters that the Houthis had advanced against government and local forces on strategic hilltops near Taiz during the previous 48 hours.
The advance reportedly pushed towards the last remaining road linking Taiz with Aden, Yemen’s interim capital.
AFP, citing four security sources, reported that the Houthis had cut a vital supply route between Taiz and Aden.
