Government forces advance near strategic strait
On Saturday, Yemen's internationally recognised government stated that its troops were pushing forward against the Houthis in the vicinity of the Bab al-Mandab strait. This came one week after it began a counter-offensive aimed at recovering land captured in the Houthis' swift advance last month. Military sources indicated that government forces had still not taken full control of the waterway. The Houthis acknowledged that government troops had launched an attack in the Bab al-Mandab area, yet said they had driven it back.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5]
Hizam al-Asad, who sits on the Houthis' political bureau, told AFP that forces led by Saudi Arabia tried to move from Ras al-Ara in Lahj governorate toward the zone south of Bab al-Mandab. He stated that Houthi fighters pushed them back beyond the Bab al-Mandab area, causing significant losses in fighters and equipment and compelling those who survived to withdraw. He also said Houthi forces still hold Bab al-Mandab, Mayun Island and the rest of the western coastline. Government military sources likewise said Mayun Island, at the strait's centre, stayed under Houthi control as clashes went on.[S1]
It has not been possible to independently confirm the competing claims of the warring sides, given how quickly events are unfolding on the ground and the difficulty journalists face in reaching the area. Military sources from both camps told AFP on Saturday that fighting in western Yemen, particularly near the strait, had left at least 63 people dead within the previous 24 hours. According to those sources, 35 government fighters and 28 Houthis were among the dead.[S1]
Coalition strikes and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia
The Saudi-led coalition announced early on Saturday that it had struck and destroyed over 130 Houthi targets as part of a major operation. Al-Masirah, the Houthis' television channel, said enemy air raids had hit the Bab al-Mandab area. The channel also said four Saudi strikes had hit Sanaa's international airport on Saturday, following its report a day earlier that two people had been killed in a Saudi attack on that same airport.[S1]
Besides fighting Yemeni government troops on the ground, the Houthis have launched drones and missiles at targets within Saudi Arabia, hitting transport hubs, oil installations and other civilian locations. An eyewitness and people informed about the incident said a loud explosion was heard on Saturday at the airport in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. After the first reports of the blast, a diplomatic source told AFP that a Houthi missile had struck Riyadh airport at roughly 3:00pm local time. That source, briefed on the matter, said the Houthis are targeting civilian sites and that Riyadh airport is one such civilian target.[S1]
A hospital source told AFP that at least five people wounded at Riyadh airport were reportedly receiving intensive care. King Khalid International Airport also put out an advisory urging travellers to get in touch with their airlines before travelling there.[S1]
