In brief
Yemen’s internationally recognised government has announced a large‑scale military operation to reclaim areas held by the Iran‑backed Houthi movement. The move follows a flare‑up of strikes in which the Houthis attacked Saudi oil sites while Saudi‑led forces targeted Houthi positions. The offensive centres on the strategically vital city of Taiz and aims to tighten state control of Yemen’s western front while cutting off Houthi supply routes. The escalation could deepen the already crippling humanitarian crisis and further destabilise the geopolitically critical Bab al‑Mandab strait. Both sides have warned that an expanded conflict could spill into the wider region and disrupt global oil supplies.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government, backed by a Saudi‑led coalition, has announced a major military operation aimed at retaking territory currently held by the Iran‑backed Houthi movement.
In the lead‑up to the announcement, the Houthis fired missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco facilities, while Saudi‑backed forces launched retaliatory air strikes on Houthi strongholds in the north and south. The latest clashes came after the Houthis claimed they struck sites belonging to the Saudi national oil company in the capital Riyadh and in the oil‑rich eastern province of Khurais. Saudi Arabia has so far not commented on the attack.
For the government, the offensive focuses on the key city of Taiz—still under state control—where fighting with Houthi forces is intense. The aim is to isolate Taiz from the regional supply route to Aden and to roll back Houthi gains along the western coast, which they seized in September when they captured the entire Red Sea hinterland and the Bab al‑Mandab strait.
The campaign comes at a time when Yemen is mired in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The war that broke out in 2014 has seen the Houthis seize the capital Sanaʽa and stretch their control over large swathes of the north and west, prompting Saudi intervention and an international coalition that has carried out frequent air strikes.
Analysts warn that the renewed violence could threaten oil supplies that flow through the Bab al‑Mandab strait—one of the world’s most critical chokepoints—and could aggravate the already fragile security situation in the Middle East. The escalation also risks forcing more civilian casualties and intensifying shortages of food, medicine and shelter for Yemen’s millions of residents.
