Newsletters
Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces pushed Iran-backed Houthis out of several areas around the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday and reached the outskirts of the port city of Mokha, Yemeni officials said, while the Houthis claimed missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports, an oil refinery and military bases.
Government forces retook the town of Dhubab, just north of the strait, as well as the towns of Bab and Hadeid, Yemeni officials told The Associated Press (AP).
Witnesses said they saw government tanks and forces entering the towns.
The Houthis seized Mokha and the Yemeni side of Bab el-Mandeb, through which 12% of global trade passes, in a lightning offensive in September.
A reversal would loosen their grip on a Red Sea route that has become vital for Saudi oil exports since Iran choked off the Strait of Hormuz.
Yemen's Defense Ministry said Mokha had fallen, and the military said National Shield, Giants Brigades and Tihama Resistance forces captured the city Monday afternoon with the help of Saudi airstrikes.
But four government sources told Reuters that forces had only reached the outskirts of Mokha late Monday, with Houthi fighters retreating into the highlands.
Military sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that "our forces took control of the Dhubab military airfield and cut the road linking the Dhubab district to the Bab el-Mandeb area," adding that their objective was "to advance to retake Mocha and besiege the Houthis stationed in Bab el-Mandeb."
The Houthis called the government's claims baseless.
The extent of the gains could not be independently verified.
Saudi-led coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said 100 fighter jets were supporting government forces and that the coalition had secured "air protection" of Bab el-Mandeb.
The coalition said 324 "high-value" targets had been destroyed.
The coalition said its naval forces struck Houthi targets in Hodeidah, having "destroyed weapons depots, facilities storing booby-trapped boats and naval mines" and "thwarted a planned attack" on southern Red Sea waterways.
Malki also vowed "full operational support" to government forces until the Houthis are "eliminated."
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the group used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones to target King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and "critical sites" in Najran and Jizan.
There was no independent confirmation.
The Houthi-run Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center warned civilian airlines that Saudi airspace, except over Mecca and Medina, was no longer safe because it had become "a theatre of operations."
Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said Saudi Arabia "must bear all the consequences."
The Houthi-run health ministry said two people were killed and seven wounded in strikes on Sanaa province.
The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh urged Americans to be vigilant about possible drone or missile attacks.
Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan agreed at an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Monday "to move immediately to the practical implementation of the collective defense commitments" under their Mecca Joint Defense Agreement and to "ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom," according to a joint statement released by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry.
The three countries condemned "in the strongest terms the attempted targeting of Mecca and Medina, as well as the continuing attacks targeting cities and civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom," without naming the Houthis.
The statement did not specify troop numbers, contributing countries or a timetable.
The pact, signed in August, stipulates that an armed attack on any of the three countries is an attack on all.
1 min read
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also stated that the Saudi-backed government had been expected to hit back.
"They have a right to defend themselves," he said, adding that Saudi Arabia and the United States have a defense agreement.
The United States has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning support for the offensive, a regional official and a U.S. official told AP.
Despite the coastal gains, the Houthis seized the town of Turbah on Sunday, on the main road linking Taiz with Aden, leaving Yemen's third-largest city surrounded, government military sources told Reuters, though one source denied the road had been cut.
The fall of Turbah will likely constrain government forces' ability to resupply front-line positions, the Institute for the Study of War said in its latest update.
Set as preferred source
Set as preferred source
1 min read
