Yemen war: What’s the latest on the battlefield?

The Saudi-backed coalition in Yemen says it has seized several strategic positions near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Iran-aligned Houthis, as fighting intensifies along the country’s western coast.

The Houthis, meanwhile, claimed attacks targeting airports, oil infrastructure and military sites in Saudi Arabia.

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The latest offensive by the Yemeni forces follows major Houthi gains in September, when the group swept over Yemen’s Red Sea coast, capturing the strategic port city of Mocha and territory around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, has said the government’s new operation – Dawn of Yemen – announced on Sunday, aims to retake all remaining Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, which the group has controlled since 2014.

So, where does the fighting stand, and what could happen next?

What is the latest?

The heaviest fighting has been in southwestern Yemen, particularly along the Red Sea coast and around Taiz.

Government forces belonging to Yemen’s internationally-recognised government said they, together with the Popular Resistance Forces, had taken control of the al-Manzara, al-Ashari and Dhiban mountains in Haifan, south of Taiz.

Earlier, Yemeni government forces claimed they had captured Mocha, Dhubab, both in Taiz Governorate, as well as positions around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait during a rapid Saudi-backed counteroffensive.

Government forces, backed by heavy Saudi air strikes, reached the outskirts of Mocha on Monday as Houthi fighters retreated towards the highlands, four government sources told Reuters news agency.

Yemen’s Defence Ministry later said the city had fallen.

Without revealing any specifics, a Houthi military spokesman on Tuesday said the group remained in control of its battlefield gains and described reports from its opponents as “fabricated heroics”.

Al Jazeera has not independently verified the full extent of the government’s territorial gains.

Fernando Carvajal, a former UN Security Council adviser on Yemen, said the battle for the port city of Mocha will be key to the next phase of fighting.

“This will be a vital sign for us, if the Yemeni government forces, led by the Southern Giants and other southern forces, can hold this city. Because, at the moment, when you look at the battle plan, Mocha is surrounded by Houthis from all three sides, and you have the Red Sea,” he told Al Jazeera.

“So, we need to wait just a little bit more to see if indeed the government forces can hold this city and then use it as a staging point to take on the Houthis on other fronts.”

The fighting has also extended northwards along the Red Sea coast to Hodeidah, which has been under Houthis control since October 2014. The Houthis had captured the capital, Sanaa, weeks before.

The Saudi-led coalition said its naval forces struck Houthi “military targets” in the governorate, including weapons depots and facilities used to store explosive-laden boats and naval mines.

Al-Maliki said the operation had “thwarted a planned attack” on waterways in the southern Red Sea. The coalition also said its naval forces had carried out a military operation in Hodeidah.

Military vehicles travel along a road during what Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces say was an advance against the Iran-backed Houthis, near Dhubab, Taiz Governorate [Southern Giants Brigades/Handout via Reuters]

Meanwhile, the Houthis said their forces carried out dozens of strikes on Tuesday targeting “enemy” reinforcements east of al-Jawf Governorate, resulting in an unspecified number of casualties.

The Houthis have simultaneously stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, according to Houthi-affiliated media. They targeted King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha airport and the Khamis Mushait military base with missiles and drones.

Saudi Arabia has yet to comment on those specific claims.

However, on Tuesday, the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority said the King Abdullah Bin ⁠⁠⁠⁠Abdulaziz International ⁠⁠⁠⁠Airport in Jazan and Najran International ‌‌‌‌Airport were targeted in two attacks on Monday evening, causing three minor injuries.

What is the humanitarian situation on the ground?

The escalation is worsening what was already one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises.

The UN’s migration agency said on Monday that more than 184,000 people have been displaced since the war resumed.

According to the World Health Organization, the latest fighting has killed at least 959 people and wounded more than 4,200.

The fighting has also disrupted healthcare in the war-devastated country.

“Yemen’s latest escalation is pushing an already fragile health system towards breaking point,” warned Annette Heinzelmann, WHO’s emergency director for the eastern Mediterranean region.

What is the international reaction?

The escalation has drawn a response from Saudi Arabia’s regional allies, with Turkiye and Pakistan agreeing to rapidly deploy military forces and capabilities to Saudi Arabia under the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement.

Signed in August, the pact is designed to strengthen collective deterrence and stipulates that an armed attack against Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Turkiye will be regarded as an attack on all three.

The United States, one of Saudi Arabia’s closest allies, is providing intelligence support to Riyadh, according to media reports.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday said Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni government had “a right to defend themselves”.

“And obviously the Yemeni forces are going to try to retake territory that they were ousted from,” he told reporters.