Y
emen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government has announced a major military offensive aimed at recapturing territory controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi movement, escalating a conflict with growing implications for regional security and international shipping.
Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said on Sunday that government forces would continue their campaign until the country was liberated from what he described as the grip of the “terrorist militia.” A military spokesman subsequently called on the Houthis to surrender their weapons.
The announcement by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), which governs from the southern city of Aden, followed weeks of Houthi advances that have weakened government forces and brought the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait under the group’s control.
The strait, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, is a crucial passage for international shipping between the Mediterranean and Asia. Its capture has given the Houthis additional leverage over global maritime trade and opened a new front in the wider war involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
The latest escalation comes as regional tensions remain high following the US-Israeli war against Iran, which began in February. Iran’s responses have included disrupting oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula.
As the Yemeni government announced its counteroffensive, the Houthis said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones against Saudi Aramco sites in Riyadh and the Khurais area of Saudi Arabia.
The group claimed the attacks caused major fires and were retaliation for approximately 50 Saudi-led air and missile strikes in Yemen during the preceding 12 hours. Saudi Arabia had not immediately confirmed the reported attacks or the extent of any damage.
Al-Alimi said the government had decided to launch the offensive after exhausting opportunities to de-escalate the conflict. He thanked Saudi Arabia for its support and urged Yemen’s regional allies and international partners to assist the PLC’s forces and institutions.
Regional and Western officials had previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were preparing an assault against the Houthis. Under the reported plans, Saudi forces would lead aerial operations while Yemeni government troops conducted fighting on the ground.
The United States is already providing intelligence support for Saudi operations in Yemen, according to people familiar with the preparations. Several regional and European countries are also providing mainly defensive military assistance to the kingdom.
Washington’s involvement comes as the US war against Iran has weakened parts of Iran’s military and political leadership while drawing the United States into another major regional engagement and depleting important military equipment.
The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and large areas of the northwest since 2014. The region contains most of the country’s population. Despite years of military operations by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and their Western allies, the movement has retained control of extensive territory and strengthened its weapons capabilities with Iranian assistance.
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition supporting the internationally recognized government, but the campaign failed to defeat the Houthis. A truce agreed in 2022 largely held until this year, when the conflict intensified amid the wider confrontation involving Iran.
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The government’s announcement follows a rapid Houthi offensive last month that captured the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and approximately 150 kilometers of Red Sea coastline within weeks. The advance caused government forces to retreat and shifted the balance of power on the ground.
Military sources said the Houthis had also gained control of strategic hilltops near Taiz over the previous 48 hours, advancing towards the last road connecting the city with Aden on Yemen’s southern coast.
Control of that route could effectively place Taiz under siege. Yemen’s third-largest city is home to hundreds of thousands of civilians and hosts thousands of government troops. Its strategic importance is compounded by its political significance: Al-Alimi comes from the region.
A siege would further worsen an already severe humanitarian crisis. The World Food Program said last week that three in four families in parts of Yemen were going hungry as fighting intensified, displacing tens of thousands of people and disrupting supplies to millions.
The struggle for Bab el-Mandeb has also raised concerns beyond Yemen. The waterway is a vital route for commercial shipping, and its importance has increased as disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has made alternative routes more strategically significant.
The Houthis’ recent territorial gains therefore pose challenges for Yemen’s government, Saudi Arabia and international efforts to protect maritime trade. Their ability to threaten shipping and Saudi oil infrastructure gives the group influence extending well beyond the territory it controls.
Yemen has been fragmented by years of conflict involving local armed groups and regional powers. The latest government offensive could reshape the military balance, but the Houthis’ recent advances, their control of strategic territory and the continuing humanitarian emergency suggest that any campaign to retake the country will face substantial challenges.
(Source: Reuters)
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