Yemen War: Government Retakes Territory as Houthis Strike Saudi Arabia

The Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen says it has taken control of several strategic positions near the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Iran-backed Houthis, as fighting escalates along the country's western coast.

The Houthis, for their part, say they have carried out attacks on airports, oil infrastructure and military targets inside Saudi territory.

The latest operation by Yemeni government forces follows significant Houthi gains in September, when the group swept across the Red Sea coast, capturing the strategic port city of Mocha and territory around the Bab al-Mandeb strait — one of the world's most important shipping lanes.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, said the new campaign, named "Yemen's Dawn," was announced on Sunday with the aim of retaking all remaining Houthi-held territory, including the capital Sanaa, which the group has controlled since 2014.

Latest developments

The heaviest fighting has been in southwestern Yemen, particularly along the Red Sea coast and around Taiz province.

The internationally recognised government forces said they and the Popular Resistance Forces had taken control of the al-Manzara, al-Ashari and Dhiban mountains in Haifan, south of Taiz.

Earlier, Yemeni government forces said they had captured Mocha and Dhubab in Taiz province, along with positions around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, in a lightning counteroffensive backed by Saudi Arabia.

Four government sources told Reuters that government forces, supported by intense Saudi air strikes, had advanced to the outskirts of Mocha on Monday as Houthi fighters withdrew to the highlands. Yemen's Defence Ministry later confirmed the city had fallen.

On Tuesday, a Houthi military spokesman gave no details but insisted the group still held its battlefield gains, dismissing the opposing side's reports as "fabricated victories."

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the full extent of the territory retaken by the Yemeni government.

Fernando Carvajal, a former UN Security Council adviser on Yemen, said the battle for the port city of Mocha would be decisive for the next phase.

"It will be an important indicator if Yemeni government forces, led by the Giants Brigades and other southern forces, can hold this city. Because right now, looking at the operational plan, Mocha is surrounded by the Houthis on three sides, with the Red Sea on the other," he told Al Jazeera.

"So we need to wait a little longer to see whether government forces can hold this city and turn it into a springboard to attack the Houthis on other fronts."

Fighting has also spread north along the Red Sea coast to Hodeidah, which the Houthis have controlled since October 2014, after the group seized the capital Sanaa weeks earlier.

The Saudi-led coalition said its naval forces had struck Houthi "military targets" in the province, including weapons depots and facilities housing explosives-laden boats and naval mines.

Al-Maliki said the operation had "prevented a planned attack" on shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea. The coalition also confirmed its naval forces had carried out a military operation in Hodeidah.

The Houthis, meanwhile, said their forces had carried out dozens of attacks on Tuesday against "enemy" reinforcements in eastern al-Jawf province, causing unspecified casualties.

According to Houthi-affiliated media, the group has also stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha airport and the Khamis Mushait military base with missiles and drones.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on the specific claims. However, on Tuesday, the Saudi General Authority of Civil Aviation said King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Jazan and Najran International Airport were hit in two incidents overnight on Monday, leaving three people with minor injuries.

Humanitarian situation

The escalation is deepening one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

The UN migration agency said on Monday that more than 184,000 people had been displaced since the fighting flared up again.

According to the World Health Organization, the latest fighting has killed at least 959 people and wounded more than 4,200.

The fighting has also disrupted a health care system already badly damaged by years of war.

"The latest escalation in Yemen is pushing an already fragile health system to the brink of collapse," warned Annette Heinzelmann, WHO's emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean region.

International reaction

The escalation has drawn a response from Saudi Arabia's regional allies, with Turkey and Pakistan agreeing to rapidly deploy forces and military capabilities to Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

Signed in August, the agreement is aimed at strengthening collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack on Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Turkey would be considered an attack on all three.

According to media reports, the United States — one of Saudi Arabia's closest allies — is providing intelligence support to Riyadh.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government had the "right to self-defence."

"And obviously the Yemeni forces will try to recapture territory that they had been pushed out of," he told reporters.