Yemen fighting escalates as Houthis push toward Red Sea gateway
Fighting has flared again in Yemen as Iran-backed Houthi forces launched a ground offensive against the Saudi-led coalition, aiming to seize control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Both sides have suffered significant losses, and hundreds of families have fled coastal cities.
Intense fighting has resumed in Yemen's long civil war after Houthi militia forces, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the country, launched a ground offensive on Thursday against the Saudi Arabia-led coalition backing Yemen's government-in-exile.
No official casualty figures have been released, but news agencies citing unnamed sources agree that both sides have sustained dozens of losses, with civilians also killed in the fighting. AFP tallied 129 deaths as of Friday, while military sources told DPA and AFP that each side may have lost roughly 60 fighters.
Shelling and artillery fire have forced hundreds of families to flee the coastal cities of Hodeidah and Mokha, each held by opposing sides in the conflict. Clashes involving ground fire, rockets and drones have been reported in the southwestern provinces of Taiz and Hodeidah, with particularly fierce fighting over high ground such as Mount al-Numan overlooking Mokha.
Why now
A period of relative calm that had held since Yemen's nearly 12-year civil war began broke down in July amid a wider conflict involving Iran. The Houthis are targeting ports and elevated terrain held by Saudi-led forces to strengthen their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The waterway's importance has grown as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has faced restrictions.
The Houthis have declared a blockade on ships approaching Saudi Arabia's west coast and have already fired on several commercial vessels, in some cases causing severe damage and deaths. Mohammed al-Basha of the US-based risk advisory firm Basha Report said the group believes that seizing Bab el-Mandeb or Mokha port would strengthen its negotiating position with Yemen's government and Saudi Arabia.
