Deadly clashes in Yemen between Houthis, government forces

Yemen’s government and the Iran-backed Houthis engaged in deadly clashes on Thursday, sources from both sides said, as a military source accused the rebels of seeking to advance towards the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait. The two Yemeni military sources said 13 government forces had been killed, with one of them saying two officers were among the casualties. A military source close to the Houthis said at least 11 rebels had been killed. Yemen, embroiled in more than a decade of civil conflict, in July became the latest country to be dragged into the Middle East war as the Houthis upended a 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed government. The Houthis launched a broad offensive along frontlines on the western Red Sea coast, in a bid “to advance towards Bab al-Mandab and areas held by government forces”, a Yemeni military source told AFP. With Iran’s closure of Hormuz, the Bab al-Mandab chokepoint has gained increased importance as a transit route for Saudi oil. The narrow waterway connects the Red Sea — and, via the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean — to the Indian Ocean. A second Yemeni government military source said the group was attempting to close in on the port city of Mokha, on the Red Sea, which has come under repeated attack in the past weeks, by severing the route connecting it to Taiz, further inland. Most of the dead were killed on the frontlines between Mokha and Taiz, while the others died in clashes near the Red Sea coast, the source added. The Yemeni government and the Houthis have not yet issued official death tolls. Fierce fighting The Houthis do not control the coastal areas bordering Bab al-Mandab, but they hold the key port city of Hodeida north of Mokha and have repeatedly attacked Saudi ships in the Red Sea in past weeks. They also disrupted the strait with attacks on passing vessels after the Gaza war broke out in 2023. Official news agency Saba also reported “fierce fighting” between government forces and the rebels west of Taiz, as well as reporting Houthi missile and drone fire. Saba reported “sustained escalation by the Houthi terrorist militia across several battlefronts west of Taiz and along the West Coast”. A field officer in Mokha told AFP his men were “fighting fiercely to repel the massive Houthi offensive”. “We also thwarted an attack with two booby-trapped boats that exploded near the port, ” he said. Last month, Yemen’s information minister Moammar al-Eryani warned that the Houthis were plotting to seize land along the Bab al-Mandab strait, which would allow them to further threaten the vital shipping artery. Three Houthi military sources told AFP at the time that their group was preparing to launch an operation to seize areas south of Hodeida. In July, a fragile truce between the two sides fell apart after the rebels welcomed an Iranian plane to Yemen’s capital Sanaa, setting off a spate of attacks. They later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its ships and territory.

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