The geography of battles in Yemen between government forces, supported by Saudi Arabia, and Houthi forces (Ansar Allah), supported by Iran, has expanded to include the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah, on the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab, al-Bayda and Ma’rib in the center, and al-Jawf in the north. Government forces used aviation to target Houthi sites and camps, while the Houthis announced the downing of three Saudi drones.
The current battles are considered the most violent in Yemen in years, after the Houthis launched, since Thursday, a ground attack that coincided with missile and drone bombardment of coastal areas overlooking the Red Sea and in the vicinity of Taiz, in an attempt to advance towards areas adjacent to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait controlled by the government.
While there were conflicting reports about the progress of the battles, and each party claimed to have achieved victories on the ground, the Financial Times reported that oil facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Jizan were subjected to a new attack, only a month after a separate strike that temporarily disrupted part of the production at the company’s refinery in the region.
The Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of launching air strikes and launching cruise missiles on Al-Jawf, Al-Bayda, Marib and Taiz governorates.
The Yemeni News Agency (Saba), affiliated with the Houthis, said that Saudi Arabia targeted the four governorates with a number of air strikes and cruise missiles, and that the Houthis shot down, on Monday morning, a Saudi reconnaissance plane in the airspace of Al-Bayda Governorate, in the center of the country.
The spokesman for the Houthi forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Monday that his forces were able to shoot down a Wing Loong 2 armed reconnaissance plane while it was carrying out “hostile missions” in the airspace of Al Bayda Governorate.
Saree confirmed that the plane was targeted with an “appropriate weapon,” noting that it was the third shot down by the Ansar Allah group during the past twenty-four hours.
Saudi Arabia did not claim responsibility for the raids and missiles that the Houthis spoke about, nor did it confirm that any of its drones were shot down.
But the forces affiliated with the internationally recognized government, based in Aden in the south of the country, announced the implementation of large-scale operations on several fronts, and said that they had regained sites and thwarted Houthi infiltration attempts, while several field developments emerged during the past hours, according to a statement on the X platform.
Government forces, supported militarily and politically by Riyadh, said they carried out 13 air strikes on Houthi sites, gatherings and vehicles in Al-Bayda Governorate. Other raids were also carried out on Houthi sites, gatherings and camps on the Marib fronts and other areas.
The Yemeni news agency (Saba), affiliated with the Yemeni government, said that its forces took control, on Monday, of Naqil and Jabal al-Kura on the Al-Kadha front in the Maqbanah district, west of the city of Taiz, following violent confrontations with the "Houthi militia."
Mount Al-Koura is one of the ruling mountainous sites overlooking parts of the Al-Kadha region, and the road linking the cities of Taiz and Al-Mokha on the western coast passes through it.
Meanwhile, a government military source confirmed that “the armed forces were able to establish positions north of the city of Hays, after advancing in the region,” referring to the district located in the far south-east of Hodeidah Governorate, on the front line and less than 30 kilometers from the Red Sea coast, according to Agence France-Presse.
The latest wave of fighting began after the Houthis launched, on Thursday, a massive attack on the fronts of the western coast of the Red Sea and in the vicinity of Taiz, coinciding with missile and drone bombardment, in an attempt to advance towards areas adjacent to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait and under government control, which led to a major escalation in confrontations with government forces.
The British newspaper "Financial Times" quoted two knowledgeable people as saying that Aramco's oil infrastructure in Jizan was hit on Monday, and that work is underway to assess the extent of the damage, while one of them indicated that the latest attack was similar in size to the strike that occurred last month, according to what was reported by Reuters.
Jizan is located near the Yemeni border, and has previously been subjected to several attacks by the Houthis. The region includes an oil refinery with a refining capacity of 400,000 barrels per day, which is among the largest refineries in the Kingdom, in addition to associated facilities and energy infrastructure.
The Houthis have not yet claimed responsibility for any new attack on Saudi Arabia. Aramco's CEO, Amin Nasser, said last month that the attacks caused some interruptions in the company's oil production, without having a material impact on its operations or financial condition. Aramco did not immediately respond to the newspaper’s request for information regarding the latest attack.
According to government military sources who spoke to Agence France-Presse, one of the main goals of the Houthi attack is to isolate the coastal city of Mokha, which is under government control, from the rest of the areas under its control, in addition to trying to advance towards areas near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
The city of Mokha was also subjected to repeated attacks last month, while the Yemeni government warned last August of Houthi plans to control the coast of Bab al-Mandab, warning that any change in the map of control over this region may have repercussions beyond the borders of Yemen, especially on international shipping traffic.
The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, warned on Monday that the Houthi attack "led to an escalation in the intensity of the clashes, which portends an expansion of the conflict."
He added, "A return to widespread and sustained fighting will have dire consequences for civilians, and will make the already difficult path towards reaching a political settlement more difficult."
Clashes between Yemeni government forces and the Houthis in southwestern Yemen have resulted in the killing of more than 300 fighters and a number of civilians since Thursday, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on military and medical sources from both sides.
Two military sources in the government forces reported that 84 of their members were killed between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, while four Houthi sources reported that 57 of their members were killed during the same period.
The battles also forced a number of families to flee their homes in areas witnessing clashes.
In Al-Jawf Governorate, on the Yemeni-Saudi border to the north, fighting continued to control the Al-Labnat camp, which was under the control of the Houthis. Government forces announced the entry into the camp, as well as the control of the Al-Masafah village near the city of Al-Hazm, while the Houthis did not issue a statement confirming or denying these developments.
Local reports stated that the Houthis have used the camp over the past years as a military site, a weapons and ammunition storehouse, and a point for moving forces towards the Marib and Al-Jawf fronts.
These confrontations began after the Houthis accused Riyadh of bombing Sanaa Airport to prevent an Iranian plane from landing there, before they announced the imposition of a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia and resumed targeting its tankers and oil facilities, which ended the truce with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, which began in 2022.
