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Yemen says it reclaimed key port city from Houthis as struggle to remove Iran-backed group from Bab-el-Mandeb continues
The military campaign is now receiving active participation from Pakistan and Turkey, co-signatories of the Mecca Pact with Saudi Arabia.
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The Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive on Monday to take back strategic points on the coast around the crucial Bab-el-Mandeb strait, the government revealed. The offensive is part of a larger effort to push Iran-backed Houthis out of the areas they seized in fighting last month.
The full-scale military campaign has now also received active participation from Pakistan and Turkey, co-signatories of the Mecca Pact with Saudi Arabia, which pledges mutual defense in case of an attack on any one of the three members.
The reignition of Yemen's civil war and the Houthis' offensive have gained particular importance in light of the ongoing US-Iran war which has virtually negated the transit of oil via the strategic Strait of Hormuz. In such a situation, the Bab-el-Mandeb had acquired greater significance to ensure continuous oil exports from Saudi Arabia to curtail fuel shortages globally.
Saudi Arabia, Yemen launch full-scale offensive
Deep Dive
Yemen's armed forces wrested back control of the Red Sea city of Mocha on Monday in a larger effort to regain power over the entire Bab-el-Mandeb strait, state agency Saba reported. The Houthis had previously gained control over the city back in September, soon after flaring up tensions in the region which ended a 2022 ceasefire. The city is located about 180 kilometers (112 miles) south of Hodeida, another stronghold of the militant group.
After the Yemeni government's actions, the Houthis claimed to have attacked key locations in Saudi Arabia, including the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, the Abha international airport and the Khamis Mushait military base. The claims, however, could not be independently verified.
In addition to Mocha, the Saudi-led coalition also revealed on Monday that their naval forces had carried out a military operation in Yemen's Red Sea governorate of Hodeidah. The government forces had already taken over key positions, as per a Reuters report, including an airstrip in the Dhubab district at the mouth of the strait. These gains too, however, could not be independently verified.
The fighting in Yemen, one of the poorest states in the Arab region, has forced 184,000 people to be displaced since the war resumed and has drawn flak from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, whose spokesperson told AFP that he was "deeply concerned by the sharp escalation in fighting", and condemned "the continued Houthi cross-border attacks" on Saudi Arabia.
Mecca Pact springs into action
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed to the immediate “implementation of the collective defense commitments” during an emergency meeting of their defense alliance in Riyadh. The three countries have agreed to ensure the provision of “military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom,” as per a joint statement.
The meeting reaffirmed “solidarity in confronting the heinous attacks against the Kingdom and the holy sites,” Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman said in a post on X.
The coalition will provide air support to Yemen's ground forces during the operation with 100 fighter jets participating in the military campaign as of Monday. The trio has also publicly denounced the Houthis and accused them of attacking Islam's holiest sites, Mecca and Medina.
"The Parties also condemned in the strongest terms the attempted targeting of Mecca and Medina, as well as the continuing attacks targeting cities and civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom, reaffirming their unequivocal rejection of any attack or threat against the Kingdom's security and territorial integrity," their statement read.
Prolonged fighting has stirred concerns over energy supply and rising fuel prices as Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser warned on Monday that global oil stockpiles were "scarily thin" owing to the war. "The system is already straining," Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.
