Yemeni government forces have claimed advances along the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait after the head of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad al-Alimi, announced the start of a major offensive to capture all territories lost to the Houthis. On Monday, forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government claimed the advance and headed north along the Red Sea coast, and said they had retaken the town of Dhubab and port city of Mocha. They also earlier said that they had launched a “strategic offensive” on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa.
Government forces are also attempting to reverse gains made by the Houthis in recent days around the key city of Taiz, in southwestern Yemen. The Houthis, an Iranian-allied movement, have held the capital Sanaa since September 2014, before making other territorial gains in northern and western Yemen. After four years of relative calm, fighting flared once again in July, before a Houthi offensive in early September saw the group make sweeping gains along the Red Sea coast, including the port city of Mocha and Bab al-Mandeb.
The Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, is now attempting to regain that lost territory, but still faces divisions within the anti-Houthi camp. The most recent fighting hints at a new escalation in the conflict, al-Hamdani said. Al-Shalafi said the government’s offensive is intended to start the confrontation on their own terms, rather than allowing the Houthis to dictate the stages of the war.
And even if the United States and Iran agree a deal to end their ongoing conflict, which began in late February, it might not seriously impact the fighting in Yemen. Nicholas Brumfield, an independent Yemen analyst, told Al Jazeera that he believes the balance of power has not yet shifted in favour of either side. Sources there have told us that government security forces are sweeping those areas and capturing some [Houthi] armed men.”
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