Saudi-backed Yemeni forces attack Houthis near key global trade route

By Tim Lister, Ibrahim Dahman and Mohammed Tawfeeq,CNN

(CNN) — Yemeni government forces claimed Monday to have retaken key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital chokepoint for global trade, as they launch a renewed campaign to roll back recent gains made by the Iran-backed Houthi movement.

The developments came as the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia warned American citizens Monday of potential drone and missile attacks on the country, while Riyadh condemned what it described as escalating Houthi attacks targeting civilians, economic facilities and maritime traffic.

Yemeni military spokesperson Majid al-Nuzaili said on X that government forces “have succeeded in controlling Bab al-Mandeb” and regained control from the Houthis of a key road linking Dhubab district and the port town of Mocha. CNN has not independently verified the claim.

The government forces, which are backed by Saudi Arabia, have also “begun implementing a strategic offensive operation” against the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa, he said.

If successful, the offensive could loosen the Houthis’ grip on Bab al-Mandeb, where their attacks on Saudi oil exports diverted from the Strait of Hormuz have threatened to drive prices even higher just weeks before the US midterm elections. The Red Sea has become an increasingly important alternative export route since the Iran war severely disrupted traffic through Hormuz.

The Houthi-run Saba News Agency denied reports that the Yemeni troops and Saudi-led coalition forces are advancing. It quoted an unidentified military source as saying that the alleged gains are “fictitious” and an “attempt to cover up repeated failures and defeats.”

Later Monday, the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), a Houthi-run maritime coordination body, warned airlines against flying in Saudi airspace. The center said doing so is “unsafe” as long as Saudi Arabia’s “aggression” continues, Saba reported.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed Monday to move forward with the implementation of collective defense measures under the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, often referred to as the Mecca Alliance, following an emergency meeting in Riyadh focused on security threats facing the kingdom.

The Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis pledged full support on Sunday to Yemen’s internationally recognized government in its campaign to retake territory.

Houthi coastal momentum ‘broken’

The fighting marks a potential inflection point, with Yemeni government forces mounting their first significant attempt to retake territory near Bab al-Mandeb.

“This is absolutely significant,” Fatima Alasrar, a Yemeni analyst, wrote Monday on X. “The Houthi coastal momentum is broken.” She added that territory taken by the Houthis in September “is beginning to unravel.”

Last month, the Houthis carried out a lightning offensive down the Red Sea coast, seizing control of a key port and putting additional pressure on international shipping.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s presidential council, said in a televised speech Sunday that the ‌military ⁠operations aimed to reclaim ​territory held ‌by Houthis ⁠and restore ​state ​authority across the ⁠country.

An offensive had been widely expected amid dozens of Saudi airstrikes against Houthi positions and further Houthi gains in southern Yemen.

The renewed fighting has already forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, and what happens next could shift the balance of power in Yemen and further exacerbate an already bleak humanitarian crisis. Three out of every four families in parts of Yemen are going hungry because of the surge in fighting, the World Food Program said last week.

Al-Alimi said the decision to launch operations followed “the Houthi militias’ continued mobilization, escalation and attacks, as well as their threats against civilians, facilities, neighboring countries and international shipping lanes.”

Saudi Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for the coalition, said over the weekend that it will continue providing “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces in what he described as efforts to restore state institutions and end “the Houthi coup.”

“We destroyed 324 high-value targets at the launch of operation “Dawn of Yemen,” al-Maliki said, adding that 100 fighter jets participated in the operation.

Al-Maliki also accused the Houthis of continuing attacks against Saudi Arabia and international shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Houthi-controlled forces said Sunday that Saudi Arabia had carried out 106 air and missile strikes over the previous 24 hours targeting Sanaa and other areas of the country.

The Houthi-run Health Ministry said Monday that two people were killed, including a child, and that seven others were wounded in Saudi airstrikes near the capital. CNN could not independently verify the claims.

A video circulating on social media appeared to show Yemeni government-aligned forces driving over several Houthi fighters during clashes near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The footage was shared Monday by Habib al-Radi’i, who identified himself as an officer in the Yemeni National Army, alongside a message stating that “the crushing of the Houthi terrorist militia’s lackeys continues.”

Later Monday, Ahmed al-Ashwal, a Yemeni military and security adviser, said on X that those shown in the video “were not prisoners” and had not surrendered. CNN independently verified that the footage was filmed along the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Yemen’s western coast, but the exact date and circumstances of the incident remain unclear.

In retaliation for airstrikes against Sanaa and other locations, the Houthis claimed Sunday that they had struck vital Saudi energy facilities belonging to the Aramco state oil company.

The group also claimed that it targeted sites Monday in Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Abha International Airport in the southwestern part of the country and Aramco for the second time.

There was no immediate response from Saudi authorities to the claimed strikes.

Riyadh meeting

Early in September, the Houthis took a swath of Yemen’s Red Sea coast as far south as the critical Bab al Mandeb waterway, a chokepoint for commercial shipping crossing into the Indian Ocean.

They announced that Saudi shipping trying to use the strait would be targeted, threatening additional pressure on global trade and energy routes.

The Houthis have fired ballistic missiles and drones at multiple targets in Saudi Arabia since late July, including industrial and energy infrastructure.

Much of the recent fighting has been in the southern region of Taiz, as the Houthis have sought to cut off government forces in the regional capital. The Houthis claimed Sunday to have taken a critical highway linking Taiz with the seat of the Yemeni government in Aden.

Taiz is Yemen’s third-largest city, with a population of several hundred thousand. It is also home to thousands of government troops.

Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi airstrikes and a blockade of Houthi areas, started fighting the Houthis more than a decade ago.

Senior Turkish and Pakistani officials arrived in Riyadh on Monday for talks on regional developments.

The meeting is part of the Strategic and Political Defense Committee, a NATO-style defense pact established in August, which is committed to organizing security and military cooperation in the region. The Saudi Foreign Ministry has said the pact “does not represent an effort to establish a military axis or a sectarian bloc.”

The war in Yemen, which began in March 2015, had killed 377,000 people by the end of 2021, including fatalities from direct and indirect causes, according to the United Nations. Over 150,000 of these deaths were the direct result of the armed conflict, it said, while more have died from hunger and disease due to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war.

A 2022 UN-brokered truce brought a period of relatively low levels of hostilities between the two sides until violence surged again in August.

This story has been updated.

CNN’s Nadeen Ebrahim, Gul Tuysuz, Sophia Saifi, Eyad Kourdi and Billy Stockwell contributed reporting.

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