A war with global consequences is raging in the Yemeni desert. BBC report

We were moving at high speed through the desert in a pickup truck, in the back of which were armed fighters from Yemeni pro-government forces. At times there were views of the Arabian Sea and gloomy mountain peaks in the distance. We were told that the Houthi rebels were driven out of here just a few days ago.

When battles take place in the vast expanses of the desert, it can be difficult to notice the advance of troops. But soldiers show us new sandbag defenses in the Shaab al-Jinn area of ​​Lahj province.

“There was heavy fighting here,” said Tawfik al-Habun, a bearded commander in camouflage fatigues. “They have snipers, artillery and ballistic missile launchers.”

Here, in a remote corner of the Middle East, a war of global significance is taking place.

The protracted civil war in Yemen can no longer be ignored. It is part of a wider conflict stretching from Tehran to Riyadh, where rockets hit the international airport over the weekend.

Yemen's Houthis, already a threat to global shipping, are becoming an increasingly serious threat to Saudi Arabia. In addition, they serve as a tool of pressure in the hands of their patrons from Iran, Riyadh’s regional rival.

Tawfik al-Habun pointed to shards of fiberglass and metal lying at his feet - the debris of a downed Houthi drone, which he said was carrying C4 explosives.

The commander represents the Southern Forces, part of a loose coalition of factions fighting for Yemen's internationally recognized government. He is supported by Saudi Arabia, including through airstrikes.

The Houthis captured the capital Sanaa in 2014, ousting the government from power. A year later, a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia intervened in the conflict and tried to oust the Houthis. However, despite years of devastating airstrikes, this was not achieved.

The commander reports that about 500 Houthi fighters still hold the high ground overlooking the strategic sea corridor - the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

This narrow waterway, critical for oil exports, remained out of sight during our trip.

The Houthis captured the area in a rapid offensive in September. The commander claims that pro-government forces have recaptured about 85% of the territory (the Houthis have denied losing positions in other areas, but not here, our local sources say).

Until they regain full control, pressure on global oil supplies and prices will continue.

We later learned that there was heavy fighting here on the day of our visit. Five military vehicles were apparently hit by improvised explosive devices planted by the Houthis. The exact number of dead and wounded soldiers remains unknown.

As international energy markets falter, exhausted Yemenis facing famine as they flee renewed violence.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), since the situation worsened in early September, about 200 thousand people have lost their homes - and all this is happening in the poorest country in the Arab world.

As we left the area, we saw a picture of human suffering: families were everywhere, trying to find shelter in the shade of stunted trees. In one of the groups of women and children, we met Aisha, an elderly, emaciated woman sitting directly on the ground.

She fled in fear from her home in the Kahboub Mountains, an area that had been hit by Houthi drone strikes.

“We’ve been here for 30 days,” she told me. “I have no cattle, no money, no water, no food, not even a blanket... we had to run in what we were wearing.”

Last weekend, Saudi Arabian civilians at Riyadh International Airport had to flee. The Houthi attack, the deadliest in more than 10 years, has shocked the region and undermined the kingdom's sense of security.

In the operating rooms of the port city of Aden, Yemen, geopolitics seems too far away. Hospitals are overwhelmed and doctors are working day and night to treat wounded soldiers coming from the front lines.

We visited a military hospital where 51 wounded were admitted in one day, many with gunshot wounds and some requiring amputation.

In the crowded ward, a Houthi militant lay next to government fighters. Doctors say they don't make any distinctions.

“I don’t care where he comes from, what his background is or his religion. He is a human being, so I have to treat him like a human being,” says Dr. Bassam Hazar.

Even if the war ends, for some it will never be a thing of the past. One of the patients sat silently on the bed; the stump of his left arm was wrapped in a white bandage, and on the top of his head there were staples holding the edges of the wound together.

Some have not lost their fighting spirit. Ahmed Ali Mahmoud, despite numerous fractures, is smiling and full of energy.

“I don’t expect a full recovery,” he tells us. “I just need to get back on my feet.” I believe it is my religious and civic duty to return to battle. The Houthis destroyed the country. When we win, I won’t even feel these fractures.”

In the next room lies 12-year-old Ali, a brown-haired boy just a year older than the Yemeni civil war. He was injured by a drone strike while walking down the street; Now he faces a difficult operation.

“The fragment is near the spine,” says Dr. Amr Riyad Al-Saqaf, standing by his bed. “The operation will not be easy, but, God willing, our specialists will cope with it.”

“At first he was depressed,” the doctor continues, “but we gave him toys and his mood is gradually improving.”

The truce of 2022 brought several years of relative calm. However, the Houthis have now become a more formidable force, as they proved over the weekend.