Key Takeaways

• Yemen’s government launches military campaign to reclaim Houthi-held territories across the nation.
• Heavy fighting has intensified along the Red Sea coast and around the strategic city of Taiz.
• Over 100,000 people have been displaced since the collapse of the fragile 2022 truce.
• Saudi Arabia pledges continued support, citing attacks on its own sovereignty as justification.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has announced a major military campaign to retake all territory controlled by the Houthis, marking a new and severe escalation in a civil war that had largely been frozen for several years. This decisive move comes as battles have significantly intensified over recent weeks along the country’s vital coastal regions and strategic urban centers.

The announcement by Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, follows weeks of heavy fighting and significant advances by Houthi forces along the Red Sea coast and around the city of Taiz. On Monday, Yemeni government forces stated they were launching a “strategic” offensive on Sanaa, the capital which the Houthis have controlled since 2014. Earlier that day, backed by Saudi Arabia, government troops claimed to have regained control of the Dhubab district on the west coast near the Bab al-Mandeb strait, although the Houthis denied this specific claim. The government later added that it had also captured the port city of Mocha.

The conflict between the Iran-aligned Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, and government forces has expanded rapidly since a fragile 2022 truce collapsed in July. This collapse has displaced more than 100,000 people. Last month, the Houthis launched a rapid offensive that captured approximately 150km of Red Sea coastline and areas around Bab al-Mandeb, a narrow waterway critical for international shipping.

On Monday, the foreign minister of the internationally recognised government, Afrah al-Zouba, requested increased support from the international community. She stated in a post on X that it is in the world’s interest for Yemen to be stable and called on friends and the international community to support the Yemeni people in confronting what she described as a "terrorist Houthi militia."

Latest Developments in the Conflict

The Yemeni government army reported on Monday that 1,747 Houthi fighters had been “neutralised” in 1,122 military operations across the Saada, al-Jawf, and Taiz governorates, as well as along the western coast. Military spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili detailed that these attacks targeted artillery and rocket positions, fortifications, supply lines, reinforcements, and command centers. He noted that warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles, and snipers were involved, resulting in the destruction or disabling of 364 military and logistical vehicles. However, these casualty and equipment figures could not be independently verified.

Beyond the coastal advances, the front line in Marib governorate in northeastern Yemen also witnessed an escalation in fighting on Monday. A military source told Al Jazeera that government forces launched an attack on Houthi positions on the Raghwan front in the north of the governorate. This ground assault coincided with air raids targeting Houthi positions near Mount Helan, an arms depot, and military reinforcements northwest of Marib.

Earlier in the week, on Sunday, a Saudi-led coalition announced that its forces carried out 97 attacks against Houthi reinforcements around Taiz and the Tor al-Baha front. The coalition utilized warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles, and snipers in these operations. Al Jazeera’s Yemen bureau chief, Saeed Thabet, observed that Houthi operations in the rural areas around Taiz rely on guerrilla tactics. These tactics aim to ease pressure on the coastal front and tighten the blockade of the road to Aden.

Strategic Implications and Regional Response

Al-Alimi stated on Sunday that government forces had been ordered to launch military operations to regain Houthi-controlled territory and restore state authority across Yemen. “We have instructed the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned tasks under an approved plan until the country is liberated from the Houthis,” al-Alimi said.

Military sources told Reuters that over the previous 48 hours, the Houthis advanced against government and local forces on strategic hilltops near Taiz. They pushed forward along the last remaining road linking the city with Aden on Yemen’s southern coast. The AFP news agency quoted four security sources as saying the Houthis had cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with Aden, the Yemeni government’s interim capital.

The Houthis have controlled Sanaa and much of Yemen’s populous northwest since 2014. Saudi Arabia intervened militarily the following year at the head of a coalition supporting the internationally recognised government but failed to dislodge the group. A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 brought years of relative calm before fighting intensified again this year, with the latest round focusing heavily on the Red Sea coast and Taiz.

Ibrahim Jalal, a Yemeni defence analyst, told Al Jazeera that the government and its allies face a formidable rival in the Houthis. He noted that the missile arsenal of the Houthis, the precision of their drones, and their military “capabilities have grown” with support from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Jalal added that by joining the US-Israel war on Iran on their own timeline, the Houthis have reinforced their place in Tehran’s “axis of resistance” and given the IRGC a way to shift pressure from the Strait of Hormuz to Bab al-Mandeb in the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia Pledges Continued Military Support

Saudi Arabia has pledged continued support for the internationally recognised government in its ongoing struggle against the militant group. Coalition spokesman Major-General Turki al-Maliki said Saudi Arabia and its allies would continue supporting Yemen until state institutions were restored and the Houthi threat to shipping in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb was ended.

Al-Maliki emphasized that Saudi Arabia had an “inherent right” to defend its sovereignty and take military measures to deter Houthi offensives. He cited recent attacks on Riyadh, Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan, Najran, Taif, and Yanbu as justification for these actions.

Yemen’s Future Amidst Escalating Regional Tensions

The announcement of a major government offensive signals a significant turning point in the Yemeni civil war, moving from a period of relative calm to intense, multi-front combat. With the Houthis expanding their control over critical supply routes and coastal areas, the risk of broader regional destabilization has increased. The involvement of external actors like Saudi Arabia and Iran, along with the disruption of key shipping lanes like Bab al-Mandeb, suggests that any long-term resolution will require not only military coordination but also complex diplomatic engagement to address the wider geopolitical pressures affecting the Middle East.