Fighting has intensified on several fronts in Yemen as the government forces have carried out air attacks on Houthi positions in attempts to retake Mocha, days after the Iran-backed group captured the strategic port city, tightening its grip on the Red Sea – a vital shipping lane. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah (supporters of God), have accused Saudi Arabia of launching more than 100 air attacks on Yemen within the past 48 hours. Saudi Arabia backs the internationally recognised government, which has described the latest fighting as a “battle for survival”.
The fighting has forced tens of thousands of Yemenis from their homes, including more than 2,000 who headed to Djibouti. What is the latest situation on the ground? What is the Saudi role in the conflict, and how has Iran responded?
On Saturday, Yemeni government forces said they had launched air attacks on Houthi fighters along the Red Sea coast after the group seized full control of the strategic shoreline. Yemen’s government news agency, Saba, reported that “the armed forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia backed by the Iranian regime” near the port city of Mocha. The spokesperson for the government forces, Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, said they also struck the Houthis’ “vehicles and members” on the Mocha-Dhubab road, 11km (7 miles) from the city, according to Saba.
The government’s attacks came after the Houthis captured Mocha on Thursday and the island of Mayyun (also known as Perim) on Friday, completing their hold on the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a narrow waterway vital to global oil shipping. On Sunday, Sultan al-Arada, a member of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) and governor of Marib, said government forces that withdrew from the west coast are currently regrouping in Marib and will return to the battlefield. In an interview with state-run Saba TV, al-Arada described what happened on the coast as “painful and unfortunate”, but said such setbacks were part of the nature of war.
Al-Arada accused the Houthis of bringing the peace process to a dead end and “forcing the option of war” back on Yemen. He said government forces were continuing to fight on several fronts and that the ultimate objective in Marib and elsewhere remained “the restoration of the capital, Sanaa”. The Yemeni military’s reserve Nation Shield Force also claimed on Sunday that the reserve’s 6th Brigade had downed five drones during clashes in the al-Aghbara area, according to a report by Turkish state-run Anadolu news agency.
Separately, the September Net website, which is affiliated with the army of the internationally recognised Yemeni government, reported that air forces conducted a series of air raids against Houthi targets across the country, saying equipment had been destroyed and Houthi fighters killed, but gave no further details on the number of casualties. Reporting from Sanaa, Yemen, Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry said the government forces are trying to recapture territory near the key city of Mocha from the Houthis. The Al Jazeera correspondent said Saudi Arabia is carrying out air attacks, mainly against Houthi military advances.
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