Yemen announces military campaign to reclaim land from Iran-backed Houthis

BySebastian Usher, Global affairs correspondent and Tinshui Yeung.

Key points

• The group remarked the attack was in response to what it described as 50 Saudi-led coalition air and missile strikes in Yemen in 12 hours.
• On Saturday, Yemen's administration additionally noted its forces had hit Houthi targets nationwide, including in Sanaa, Saada and the group's positions near Taiz in the south-west.
• When the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, from the Saudi-backed administration, before going on to take control of swathes of the country's north, a war erupted in 2014.
• On Sunday, the Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with Aden, the interim capital of the Yemeni administration, AFP news agency reports.
• In retaliation, Saudi Arabia has additionally been striking Houthi targets, according to the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV channel.

Yemen's Saudi-backed administration has confirmed a major military operation to retake territory from the Iran-backed Houthis.

It comes after an exchange of strikes between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition in recent days. On Sunday, the Houthis remarked they had struck sites belonging to Saudi national oil business Aramco.

For context, the group remarked the attack was in response to what it described as 50 Saudi-led coalition air and missile strikes in Yemen in 12 hours. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment.

When the Houthis seized the country's entire Red Sea coast, including the vital shipping lane of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, further disrupting global oil supplies, the conflict escalated in September.

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

Attacks on the Houthis have additionally spread throughout Yemen, including to the Saada region, the group's northern heartland.

On Sunday, Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi remarked 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."

But it is not yet clear whether this represents a new phase in the conflict.

Notably, the frontline in Yemen remains focused around the key city of Taiz. It is still controlled by the internationally recognised administration.

As they seek to secure coastal areas and, by extension, the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Houthis are engaged in a fierce battle with administration forces for control of the region.

Citing three Yemeni military sources, AFP additionally 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, informed AFP.

Away from Yemen, the Houthis are additionally trying to hurt the Saudis with an attack aimed at the country's economic lifeblood – oil.

On Sunday, Yemen's Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree remarked the group had rolled out 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 remarked in an official note. "The strikes were precise, causing large fires at the targeted sites."

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

As a consequence, the global economy – could pay if it rolled out a new all-out war against the Houthis, but it has once again shown the cost Saudi Arabia – and.

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

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

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

After a number of years of relative calm, the war reignited in July against the backdrop of the widening conflict in the Middle East.

Notably, the Houthis have introduced a blockade of Saudi energy exports. It have already been squeezed by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

In short, yemen announces military campaign to reclaim land from Iran is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.