Yemeni government forces launched a major offensive to retake areas around the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Houthis, as Pakistan and Turkey agreed to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia and the Houthis struck Riyadh's international airport, oil facilities and military bases in a widening war. Yemeni officials said forces allied with the internationally recognised government retook on Monday the crucial town of Dhubab just north of the strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. They also captured the towns of Bab and Hadeid, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Witnesses said they saw government tanks and forces entering the towns. The government push came as part of a major offensive launched early Monday under air cover by a Saudi military coalition. In turn, the Houthis' military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a pre-recorded statement that the group used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh and an oil refinery in the Red Sea city of Rabigh.
Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other "critical sites" in the cities of Najran and Jizan, he claimed. The US Embassy in Riyadh warned US citizens on social media to be vigilant about possible drone or missile attacks. The group formally known as Ansar Allah said they had captured more territory in the southwestern part of Yemen, taking a key town in a blow to the Saudi-backed forces as they advanced toward a strategic provincial capital in the region.
The Saudi-led coalition spokesman, Major General Turki al-Malki, said 100 fighter jets supported government forces. He said the coalition secured "air protection" of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets. The escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has revived Yemen's war after a four-year ceasefire.
On Sunday, the Houthis captured the town of Turbah, which sits on a main road linking the provincial capital of Taiz with the port city of Aden, which serves as an interim seat of Yemen's government. Over the years, the town was a major post for government forces defending Taiz. Earlier, the Houthis seized several villages and areas on Taiz's outskirts, paving the way for the group to encircle Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city.
The Houthis made a swift push on the country's western coast on the Red Sea in early September, capturing the strategic city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, gains that enabled them to control the Yemeni side of the Bab el-Mandeb, through which 12% of global trade transits. The Saudi-backed government said Sunday it was mobilising troops across government-held areas. Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised speech that the operations were aiming at "recovering the remaining territories" controlled by the Houthis.
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