Yemen's Saudi-backed government has announced a major military operation to retake territory from the Iran-backed Houthis. It comes after an exchange of strikes between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition in recent days. On Sunday, the Houthis said they had struck sites belonging to Saudi national oil company Aramco.
The group said the attack was in response to what it described as 50 Saudi-led coalition air and missile strikes in Yemen in 12 hours. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment. The conflict escalated in September, when the Houthis seized the country's entire Red Sea coast, including the vital shipping lane of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, further disrupting global oil supplies.
Yemen's capital, Sanaa, which has been held by the Houthis for more than a decade, has come under sustained attack as government forces try to weaken the group's military capabilities. Attacks on the Houthis have also spread across Yemen, including to the Saada region, the group's northern heartland. On Sunday, Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address: "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." But it is not yet clear whether this represents a new phase in the conflict.
The frontline in Yemen remains focused around the key city of Taiz, which is still controlled by the internationally recognised government. The Houthis are engaged in a fierce battle with government forces for control of the region, as they seek to secure coastal areas and, by extension, the Bab al-Mandab Strait. On Sunday, the Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with Aden, the interim capital of the Yemeni government, news agency reports.
Citing three Yemeni military sources, also reports that the Houthis now control the area and supply route, effectively encircling Taiz. "They've achieved the military objective of isolating Taiz from Aden, even if they haven't fully taken control of it," Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, told AFP. Away from Yemen, the Houthis are also trying to hurt the Saudis with an attack aimed at the country's economic lifeblood - oil.
On Sunday, Yemen's Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on Aramco sites in the capital, Riyadh, and the oil-rich Khurais area in the kingdom's east. "Both operations successfully achieved their objectives," the spokesman said in a statement. "The strikes were precise, causing large fires at the targeted sites." It is not the first time the group has said it has hit Saudi oil sites.
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