Yemeni forces claim to seize key positions near waterway as Pakistani, Saudi and Turkish officials to meet.
The army of Yemen’s internationally recognised government says it has seized control of the Dhubab district and key positions near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a day after the government announced the launch of a major military operation against the Houthis, an armed group also known as Ansar Allah (Arabic for Supporters of God).
“Forces from the Homeland Shield Forces and the Giants Brigades carried out a large-scale military operation with air cover targeting Houthi militia positions and movements in several areas of the district,” Yemen’s Saudi-backed military said in a statement carried by Yemen’s news agency Saba.
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“During the operation they advanced and seized important positions – cutting off supply lines and roads leading to Bab al-Mandeb,” an unnamed army source told the agency.
A number of Houthi fighters were killed and wounded in the clashes with military equipment destroyed or damaged, according to the source.
Government forces are “continuing to comb and secure the liberated areas and cut off supply routes to the Houthi terrorist militia”, Saba reported.
Earlier, a spokesman for Yemen’s military said they launched ۱,۱۲۲ attacks against Houthi sites, including artillery positions, rocket launchers, and command and control centres.
In a post on X, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili said the attacks, using warplanes, drones, missiles, rockets, artillery and snipers, took place in the provinces of Saada, al-Jawf and Taiz and on the coast. He said ۱,۷۴۷ Houthi fighters were killed.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
Yemen has been at war since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, in ۲۰۱۴, forcing the Yemeni government to retreat to Aden.
The war escalated after a fragile truce struck between the government and the Houthis in ۲۰۲۲ collapsed in July.
In mid-September, the Houthis swept across parts of western Yemen, seizing the port city of Mocha and key strategic islands in the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
Since then, anti-Houthi forces have largely stabilised the front lines. On Sunday, Rashad al-Alimi, the chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, the executive body of the internationally recognised government, announced the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory held by the Houthis.
The battlefield reports come as Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar arrived in Saudi Arabia for a meeting with Saudi and Turkish officials under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and military chief Asim Munir will accompany Dar at Monday’s talks in Riyadh with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on X.
Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan signed the defence pact on August ۷ to strengthen collective deterrence and expand defence cooperation in the region. The pact stipulates that an attack on one of the three countries is considered an attack on them all.
The Pakistani foreign minister said last week that the urgent talks would address a proposal for political engagement with the Iran-aligned Houthis as an alternative to the military option, following an approach by Iran.
Al Jazeera’s Michael Appel said the Yemen war is expected to feature prominently in the Saudi-hosted talks.
“Civilians remain caught up in the fragmented front line of this war, and the announcement of an expanded military operation leaves tens of thousands with the prospect of continued displacement and hunger as a humanitarian crisis takes hold,” he said.
