Saudi coalition launches counter-offensive to free the Bab al-Mandeb strait from the Houthis

Saudi and Yemeni forces launched a counter-offensive against Houthi fighters on Monday, aiming to drive the rebels from the strategic port city of Mocha and ease the threat to energy exports through the narrow Bab al-Mandeb strait, as The Wall Street Journal reports.

Around 100 warplanes were providing air cover for Yemeni ground troops, which were advancing north along the coast in a flanking move toward Mocha in a dawn operation, said Major General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen. Al-Maliki also said coalition naval forces destroyed weapons depots and warehouses with explosive boats and naval mines in Yemen’s Hodeidah province, to prevent the Houthis from targeting ships in the strait and the Red Sea.

In response, the Houthis launched missile and drone attacks against multiple targets in Saudi Arabia, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Aramco refinery in Rabigh and numerous Saudi military installations, said Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sare’e. He warned commercial airlines that “Saudi airspace has now become a theatre of our operations”. Senior Houthi official Abdul-Malik al-Ajri wrote on Monday that they will continue “with the principle of reciprocity — escalation for escalation — to the end”.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that the Saudis “have the right to defend themselves”, while President Trump has limited U.S. involvement to intelligence and indirect support, after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last month requested American military assistance against the Houthis, according to a U.S. military official cited by the newspaper. Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government have confirmed retaking the strategic city of Mocha from the Houthis after clashes south of the Bab al-Mandeb strait, according to Al Jazeera‘s recap.

The escalating fighting in Yemen, the fiercest in the country in years, shows how the war with Iran is fuelling instability across the Middle East and raising the risk to global energy flows, after Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz in March caused the most severe oil supply shock in recent history. The Houthis, who seized Mocha last month, are supplied with weapons and training by Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.