The Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government launched an offensive on Monday to take back strategic points on the coast around the crucial Bab-el-Mandeb strait, the government revealed. The offensive is part of a larger effort to push Iran-backed Houthis out of the areas they seized in fighting last month.
After the Yemeni government’s actions, the Houthis claimed to have attacked key locations in Saudi Arabia, including the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, the Abha international airport and the Khamis Mushait military base. The claims, however, could not be independently verified. The government forces had already taken over key positions, as per a Reuters report, including an airstrip in the Dhubab district at the mouth of the strait. These gains too, however, could not be independently verified.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed to the immediate “implementation of the collective defense commitments” during an emergency meeting of their defense alliance in Riyadh. The three countries have agreed to ensure the provision of “military forces and capabilities and ensure their rapid deployment in the Kingdom,” as per a joint statement. The meeting reaffirmed “solidarity in confronting the heinous attacks against the Kingdom and the holy sites,” Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman said in a post on X. “The Parties also condemned in the strongest terms the attempted targeting of Mecca and Medina, as well as the continuing attacks targeting cities and civilian and economic facilities in the Kingdom, reaffirming their unequivocal rejection of any attack or threat against the Kingdom’s security and territorial integrity,” their statement read.
In addition to Mocha, the Saudi-led coalition also revealed on Monday that their naval forces had carried out a military operation in Yemen’s Red Sea governorate of Hodeidah.
