Yemen’s government announces all-out war to reclaim land from Houthis

The head of Yemen’s internationally recognised government has announced it will wage an all out war in an effort to take all territory held by the Houthis.

It follows an exchange of strikes between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition in recent days.

The Iran-backed group said it had struck sites belonging to Saudi national oil company Aramco, in response to what it described as 50 Saudi-led coalition strikes in 12 hours. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment.

The Yemeni government’s fierce statement was expected after the Houthis’ offensive last month, which saw them seize control of the country’s coastline, including the vital shipping lane of the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

On Sunday, Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address: “Today, I announce the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory.”

Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which has been held by the Houthis for more than a decade, has come under sustained attack as government forces try to weaken the group’s military capabilities.

Attacks on the Houthis have also spread across Yemen, including to the Saada region, the group’s northern heartland.

But security sources say the Iran-backed Houthis have continued to make gains.

The frontline in Yemen remains focused around the key city of Taiz, which is still controlled by the internationally recognised government.

On Sunday, the Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with Aden, the interim capital of the Yemeni government, AFP news agency reports.

Citing three Yemeni military sources, AFP also reports that the Houthis now control the area and supply route, effectively encircling Taiz.

“They’ve achieved the military objective of isolating Taiz from Aden, even if they haven’t fully taken control of it,” Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, told AFP.

Al-Alimi was unlikely to have made the fierce announcement without the green light from Saudi Arabia, which remains the key backer of his government.

Saudi Arabia has been under constant attack as the Houthis try to target the country’s economic lifeblood – oil.

On Sunday, Yemen’s Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had launched a ballistic missile and drone attack on Aramco sites in the capital, Riyadh, and the oil-rich Khurais area in the kingdom’s east.

“Both operations successfully achieved their objectives,” the spokesman said in a statement. “The strikes were precise, causing large fires at the targeted sites.”

It is not the first time the group has said it has hit Saudi oil sites. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment on Sunday’s claimed attack, but has previously dismissed some claims as misleading, mocking the Houthis for “chasing imaginary victories”.

But it has once again shown the price Saudi Arabia – and, as a consequence, the global economy – could pay if it launched a new all-out war against the Houthis.

In retaliation, Saudi Arabia has also been striking Houthi targets, according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV channel. It said at least two people had been wounded in strikes on Sunday.

On Saturday, Yemen’s government also said its forces had hit Houthi targets across the country, including in Sanaa, Saada and the group’s positions near Taiz in the south-west.

Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and remains gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis.

A war erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital city from the Saudi-backed government, before going on to take control of swathes of the country’s north.

Riyadh intervened in the war the following year, leading an international coalition.

After several years of relative calm, the war reignited in July amid the widening conflict in the Middle East.

Last month, a lightning offensive enabled the Houthis to seize the country’s entire Red Sea coast, stopping Saudi Arabia from using it as an alternative oil export route to the Strait of Hormuz.

The strategy benefited the Houthis’ main sponsor, Iran. But it has also forced Saudi Arabia back into direct military confrontation with the Houthis.