Yemen Government Forces Claim Control Near Bab el-Mandeb

TAIZ: Yemen’s government forces on Monday said they had seized strategic positions near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait after clashes with Houthi fighters.

According to Yemen’s official Saba news agency, forces from the Nation’s Shield and the pro-government Southern Giants Brigades, backed by the Popular Resistance, took control of Dhubab in western Taiz province.

Yemeni forces spokesperson Brigadier General Majid al-Nuzaili said the troops were now advancing towards the port city of Mokha.

The announcement came after Yemen’s military launched a major campaign against Houthi targets. The government has also announced a new offensive aimed at retaking territory controlled by the Iran-backed group.

The offensive comes a month after the Saudi-backed government lost large parts of the Red Sea coastline and areas around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key route for international shipping.

The Houthis, who are fighting the internationally-recognised government, launched a major offensive in September. The fighting has killed hundreds of combatants on both sides and forced more than 145,000 people to leave their homes, according to the United Nations.

Although the war in Yemen began before the wider Middle East conflict that started with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, fighting in Yemen has recently become one of the most active fronts in the wider conflict.

Hours after the government announced its offensive, Yemen’s military spokesperson said its forces had carried out more than 1,000 “strikes against artillery and rocket launcher positions, defensive fortifications, approach and reinforcement routes, supply lines and logistics assets, combat reinforcements” belonging to the Houthis.

However, the government strikes have so far failed to stop the Houthi advance on the ground.

On Sunday, the Houthis effectively surrounded the key city of Taiz after cutting its main supply route to the interim government capital, Aden.

Vast humanitarian crisis

Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group, said the development was significant but warned that it was too early to consider it a decisive turning point.

Taiz city remains under government control but has been under pressure from Houthi fighters from the north, east and west. The city remains one of the main fronts in Yemen’s long-running civil war.