A Saudi-led coalition says 100 fighter jets are supporting a major Yemeni government offensive against Iran-backed Houthi forces along the Red Sea coast, as fighting intensifies around the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Taiz province.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
ADEN, Yemen — A Saudi-led military coalition deployed 100 fighter jets Monday to support a major offensive by Yemen’s internationally recognized government against Iran-backed Houthi forces, marking a sharp escalation in a civil war that had remained largely subdued under a yearslong ceasefire.
The new campaign, called “Yemen Dawn,” is aimed at reversing recent Houthi territorial gains along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, restoring government control over strategic transportation routes and ultimately retaking the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa.
Saudi-led coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said 100 warplanes participated in the opening phase of the operation and that coalition aircraft were providing continuous support for Yemeni government forces on the ground.
The coalition also said its aircraft were providing “air protection” over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
According to the coalition, 324 high-value Houthi targets had been destroyed since the operation began. The claims and the full scale of the air campaign could not immediately be independently verified.
The Saudi-led operation began only hours after Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced a broad effort to retake territory seized by the Houthis during their recent advance.
The offensive follows the Houthi capture Sunday of Turbah, a strategically important town southwest of Taiz that sits along a major road connecting the provincial capital with Aden, the temporary seat of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
Turbah had long served as an important government military position supporting the defense and resupply of Taiz.
Its loss came after the Houthis captured several villages and positions around the outskirts of Taiz, increasing fears that the rebels could further isolate Yemen’s third-largest city.
The Institute for the Study of War said the capture of Turbah “will likely severely constrain Yemeni government-aligned forces’ ability to reinforce and resupply front-line positions” throughout Taiz province and the provincial capital.
“Disrupting resupply has military value, of course, but controlling all the roads in and out of areas to the north of Turbah also prevents government forces from retreating out of the city,” the organization said in its analysis.
Government-aligned forces responded Monday by opening new fronts against Houthi positions east of coastal territory captured by the rebels during their recent offensive.
Col. Majed al-Nazili, a spokesman for Saudi-backed forces, said government troops attacked Houthi positions around Dhubab, on the coast near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The government-allied Giants Brigades separately announced what it called a “decisive military operation against the Houthi militias” in the Bab el-Mandeb area.
Government forces claimed Monday that they had taken key positions around Dhubab and the strait, including the Dhubab airstrip. The Houthis disputed government claims of major territorial gains.
Saudi-backed troops also said they had cut the road between Dhubab and Mokha and established fire control over the route.
The fighting places the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the center of the renewed conflict.
The narrow passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and an essential link between the Indian Ocean, Suez Canal and Mediterranean Sea.
Roughly 12% of global trade normally moves through the waterway.
The Houthis dramatically expanded their control of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline in September, capturing the strategic port city of Mokha as well as several Red Sea islands. Those gains strengthened their position along the Yemeni side of the Bab el-Mandeb and increased concerns about the security of international shipping.
The rebels have also attacked Saudi-linked commercial vessels and announced a blockade targeting Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.
The latest escalation traces back to mid-July, when the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of bombing Sanaa International Airport to prevent an unauthorized Iranian aircraft from landing.
The Houthis responded with missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces.
The conflict intensified further in September, when Houthi fighters swept southward along portions of the Red Sea coast in what became their largest territorial expansion in years.
Those advances helped end a period of relative calm that had followed a ceasefire first negotiated in 2022.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, announced Sunday that government forces were mobilizing throughout areas under their control.
He said military operations would seek to recover the remaining territory held by the Houthis and appealed to the international community for assistance.
On Monday, al-Alimi said “Yemen Dawn” had formally begun and described its goals as “restoring state institutions, liberating” Sanaa and ending “the Houthi terrorist militia coup.”
Al-Nazili said government forces were carrying out what he described as a “strategic offensive” toward Sanaa.
Houthi-controlled media reported multiple Saudi-led coalition airstrikes Monday, including attacks in the capital.
Al-Malki said Riyadh would provide “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are “eliminated.”
The Saudi spokesman also said the kingdom reserves the right to take whatever measures it considers necessary to protect itself from Houthi missile and drone attacks.
Saudi Arabia originally entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of a regional coalition seeking to restore the internationally recognized government after the Houthis seized Sanaa.
The war itself began in 2014, when Houthi fighters descended from their northern stronghold, captured the capital and forced Yemen’s government into exile in Saudi Arabia.
Years of fighting devastated the country and produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The ceasefire sharply reduced cross-border attacks and major Saudi air operations for several years, but the latest confrontation has revived direct fighting between Riyadh and the Houthis.
Saudi officials say the rebels have continued firing missiles and drones at targets inside the kingdom during nearly three months of renewed conflict.
The Houthis maintain that their attacks are responses to Saudi military operations in Yemen and have repeatedly threatened Saudi infrastructure and shipping.
The latest fighting has now spread across several fronts.
While government forces are attempting to retake coastal territory around Bab el-Mandeb, the Houthis have continued applying pressure around Taiz and other inland areas.
The result is an increasingly complex battlefield in which each side is advancing in different locations.
The government hopes to reverse Houthi gains along the coast before the rebels can consolidate control over transportation routes linking Taiz with Aden.
The Houthis, meanwhile, appear focused on tightening their position around Taiz while maintaining control of recently captured Red Sea territory.
Saudi air power could significantly alter that balance.
The coalition’s claim that 100 fighter jets participated in the opening phase of Yemen Dawn represents one of the largest publicly announced Saudi-led air operations in Yemen in years.
Al-Malki said the coalition is maintaining round-the-clock air support for Yemeni government forces while simultaneously targeting Houthi positions and protecting the Bab el-Mandeb.
The renewed war has already exacted a heavy civilian toll.
At least 959 people have been killed and more than 4,200 wounded during the latest escalation, according to the World Health Organization.
More than 145,000 people have been forced from their homes inside Yemen, according to the United Nations migration agency, while more than 3,000 others have fled across the water to Djibouti.
The fighting is also placing new pressure on Yemen’s already fragile medical system.
Yemen’s internationally recognized Health Ministry warned Friday that hospitals and other health facilities across Taiz province are struggling to continue operating.
Medical facilities in coastal, western and southern areas of the province have either closed entirely or are functioning only partially, according to the ministry.
Years of war have already left much of Yemen’s health infrastructure damaged, understaffed and short of supplies.
The current offensive threatens to deepen those problems as fighting expands around densely populated areas and important transportation routes.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that renewed large-scale warfare could reverse humanitarian improvements achieved during the ceasefire.
More than 150,000 people have been killed during Yemen’s broader civil war, according to estimates, while millions have required humanitarian assistance.
The renewed fighting also carries consequences beyond Yemen.
Control of the Bab el-Mandeb directly affects global shipping, including energy shipments and commercial traffic traveling between Asia and Europe.
Houthi attacks on vessels have previously forced major shipping companies to reroute around Africa, adding days to voyages and increasing transportation costs.
The rebels’ recent advances along the Red Sea coast raised concerns that they could further expand their ability to threaten maritime traffic.
That helps explain the Saudi-led coalition’s emphasis on providing air protection over the strait as government forces attempt to recapture nearby territory.
Monday’s operation represents the strongest military attempt yet to reverse the Houthis’ recent gains.
Whether it can do so remains uncertain.
The Houthis have spent years building missile, drone and defensive capabilities with Iranian support and have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to survive sustained aerial bombardment.
Yemen’s government-aligned forces also remain divided among multiple factions with differing political interests despite their common opposition to the Houthis.
For now, however, the conflict has returned to large-scale warfare.
Hundreds of Saudi-led airstrikes and ground operations are targeting Houthi-controlled territory, government troops are advancing around Bab el-Mandeb, and the Houthis are pressing their own campaign around Taiz.
After years in which Yemen’s front lines remained comparatively quiet, the launch of “Yemen Dawn” has brought the country’s civil war back into a major military phase — with one of the world’s most important shipping corridors again caught directly in the fighting.
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