Saudi-backed Yemen government launches offensive on Houthis

On Sunday, the head of Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced the start of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis. The goal is to take back all the territory the group controls, after a weekend in which Sanaa came under heavy bombardment and the Houthis said they had struck an oil facility in the Saudi capital.yahoo

"Today, I announce the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory," Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised address, Reuters reported. Regional and Western officials had earlier told Reuters that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were planning an assault in which the Saudis would lead the air campaign and Yemeni forces would fight on the ground.jpost+1

Strikes on Sanaa and Riyadh

The announcement came after a sharp escalation. On Saturday, the Houthis said they had hit a facility belonging to Saudi Aramco in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones. Flames and smoke were seen at an oil site near the capital. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack was retaliation for 60 airstrikes on Sanaa and other provinces over the previous 24 hours. He blamed Saudi Arabia for the strikes and warned the group would answer "escalation with escalation". Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, called the Houthi claims about Riyadh "misleading". Correspondents in Sanaa said they heard loud explosions and saw warplanes firing missiles at the city.aa+1

Houthis hold the initiative

The Houthis have so far kept the upper hand on the ground. Weeks ago, a fast offensive down the coast gave them control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and government forces collapsed in the process. The strait has become more important this year as a shipping route because the Iran conflict has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz. In the past 48 hours, military sources said, Houthi fighters have taken strategic hilltops near Taiz and moved closer to the last road between that city and Aden, where the government is based. If they control that road, Yemen's third-largest city would effectively be under siege.yahoo

Mohammed Al-Qadhi, a Yemeni political analyst from Taiz, said holding the mountains west of Taiz would "help them protect their back in case of any operation against the coastline, and make recapturing those areas much more difficult".yahoo

A truce unravels

Saudi Arabia entered Yemen's civil war in 2015 to support the internationally recognized government after the Houthis forced it out of Sanaa. A 2022 truce mostly held until this year. In July, the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi Arabia and started attacking energy infrastructure in the kingdom.aa+1

The fighting is making an already severe humanitarian crisis worse. The UN says more than 145,000 people have been displaced by the latest escalation. Last week, the World Food Programme said three in four families in parts of Yemen are going hungry.yahoo+1