Yemeni Government Forces Claim Control of Dhubab and Positions Near Bab al-Mandeb
Al Jazeera Staff
Yemen's internationally recognized government said its forces seized Dhubab district and key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a day after announcing a major campaign against the Houthis. A military source told Saba that supply lines to Bab al-Mandeb were cut.
The military of Yemen's internationally recognized government has claimed control of Dhubab district and key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a day after the government announced a large-scale military campaign to retake territory held by the Houthis.
According to Yemen's Saba news agency, the Saudi-backed military said: "Forces of the National Shield and the Giants Brigades carried out a large-scale military operation with air support, targeting Houthi militia positions and activities in several areas of the district."
An unnamed military source told Saba that during the operation, forces attacked and captured important positions, cutting off supply lines and routes leading to Bab al-Mandeb. According to the source, a number of Houthi fighters were killed and wounded, while several military vehicles and equipment were destroyed or damaged.
Saba quoted the source as saying government forces "are continuing to comb and secure the newly liberated areas and to cut off the Houthis' supply lines."
Earlier, a Yemeni military spokesman said they had carried out 1,122 attacks on Houthi targets, including artillery positions, rocket launchers and command-and-control centers.
In a post on social media platform X, Major General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili said the strikes were carried out with fighter jets, drones, missiles, rockets, artillery and sniper fire in the provinces of Saada, al-Jawf and Taiz and along the coastal area. He said 1,747 Houthi fighters were killed. Al Jazeera could not independently verify these battlefield reports.
Yemen has been at war since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa, forcing the Yemeni government to withdraw to Aden. The conflict escalated after a fragile ceasefire between the government and the Houthis, reached in 2022, collapsed in July.
In mid-September, the Houthis widened their offensive in several areas of western Yemen, capturing the port of Mocha and strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandeb strait. Since then, anti-Houthi forces have largely stabilized the frontlines. On Sunday, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, the executive body of the internationally recognized government, announced the launch of military campaigns to retake the remaining territory held by the Houthis.
The battlefield reports come as Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar traveled to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with Saudi and Turkish officials under the Joint Mecca Defense Agreement. Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said Defense Minister Khawaja Asif and army chief Asim Munir would accompany Dar in talks in Riyadh on Monday with Saudi and Turkish counterparts.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed a joint defense treaty on August 7 to strengthen collective deterrence and expand regional defense cooperation. The treaty stipulates that an attack on one of the three countries is considered an attack on all.
Pakistan's foreign minister said last week that emergency talks would discuss a proposal for political engagement with the Iran-backed Houthis as an alternative to the military option, following a suggestion from Iran. Al Jazeera correspondent Michael Appel said the Yemen war is expected to be a prominent item in the Saudi-hosted talks.
"Civilians remain trapped in the fragmented frontlines of this war, and the announcement of an expanded military campaign means tens of thousands of people face the risk of further displacement and hunger as the humanitarian crisis deepens," he said.
