YEMEN GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES OFFENSIVE AS HOUTHIS ENCIRCLE TAIZ
Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced the start of a military operation to retake all territory held by the Houthi movement, hours after the Iran-backed group cut a key supply route to the besieged city of Taiz. Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's presidential council, said in a statement that he was announcing "the start of military operations to retake the remaining territories of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory." Yemen's military spokesman said forces had carried out more than 1,000 strikes against Houthi artillery positions, defensive fortifications, supply lines and logistics assets. The government's declared offensive has yet to halt Houthi advances on the ground.
The campaign follows a Houthi offensive launched in September that has killed hundreds of combatants on both sides, according to United Nations figures, and forced more than 145,000 people from their homes. The government has recently lost large sections of Yemen's Red Sea coastline and territory around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key route for international shipping. Security sources said the Houthis took control of the al-Safiya area, cutting the main road linking Taiz to the interim government capital, Aden, and seizing a police station there, following days of heavy fighting in and around the city. Yemeni military sources confirmed Houthi control of the area and the supply route, with the group now surrounding Taiz. The Houthis also said they had again attacked oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia's capital.
The war in Yemen predates the wider Middle East conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but fighting there has become the most active front in that broader conflict in recent weeks. Yemen's internationally recognised government has struggled to reverse Houthi gains despite military support from Saudi Arabia. The outcome of the newly declared offensive, and the situation facing those trapped in Taiz, remain unconfirmed.