Dubai (AFP) – Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces said Saturday that they had struck Iran-allied Houthi fighters in the Red Sea city of Mocha, as the number of civilians forced to flee the renewed fighting soared.
US news site Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman had twice called US President Donald Trump to request American strikes on the Houthis last week but the request was rejected.
The ongoing clashes follow a week-long Houthi offensive that culminated in the group capturing the remainder of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and several strategic islands, and cementing their hold on the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the sea’s southern entrance.
The waterway has become an important artery for Saudi Arabian oil exports after Iran largely cut off shipments through the Gulf with its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Middle East war. The Houthis have recently declared their own maritime blockade of Riyadh’s Red Sea ports.
The government news agency Saba reported on Saturday that Yemeni “forces destroyed vehicles and weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia” near the port of Mocha, and quoted a spokesman for the forces as saying they had also struck Houthi targets just outside the city.
The Houthis, meanwhile, said on Saturday evening that over the past 48 hours, “Saudi enemy aircraft conducted 129 airstrikes” on areas under their control.
Yemen’s civil war, which began in 2014 with the Houthi capture of the capital Sanaa, had been dormant since a ceasefire in 2022 but roared back to life in July.
Saudi Arabia first entered the war on the side of Yemen’s internationally recognised government in 2015 and continues to support the Aden-based administration.
On Saturday night, Saudi authorities said a Houthi projectile fell in an area near the border, hours after issuing alerts warning of the risk of possible attacks.
The civil defence directorate said the incident resulted “in two injuries and material damage to a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles”.
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Is it just me or is that title nigh incomprehensible?
Saudi arabia got what it deserved by restarting the war in Yemen
Weird that for the last 5 or so years “Yemen” has been synonymous with “the Houthis” but in the last week there’s been a dozen articles posted to Lemmy still talking about the “Yemeni Government” as if Ansarallah don’t control the Capital, most of the country, have the support of the people and can project power outside their borders.
Ansarallah, called the Houthis by some, are the Yemeni government. The “Yemeni Government” here is nothing but a Saudi proxy.
