Houthi Offensive Targets Red Sea Gateway Amid Yemen Civil War Escalation

Both sides in Yemen's long-running civil war have sustained losses in a new push from the Houthi militia to try to seize control of the gateway to the Red Sea in the west.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the country, launched a ground offensive against the Saudi Arabia-led coalition supporting Yemen's government-in-exile on Thursday.

No casualty numbers were formally announced but news agencies citing sources off the record concurred that both sides had sustained dozens of losses, as well as civilians who were killed amid the fighting. The AFP news agency tallied 129 deaths as of Friday.

Officials also reported shelling and artillery fire forcing hundreds of families to flee from a pair of coastal cities, Hodeidah and Mokha, one held by either side in the conflict.

Why are the Houthis pushing to control this territory now?

Yemen has been in a state of civil war for almost exactly 12 years, and a period of comparative calm broke down this July amid the war with Iran in the Gulf.

The Houthis are targeting ports and elevated terrain held by Saudi-led forces that would improve their control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, leading out into the Arabian Sea and open waters.

Always a crucial waterway, its significance has increased amid the restrictions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis declared a blockade on ships approaching the west coast of Saudi Arabia, with access to its eastern ports already impeded via Hormuz. But they are not ideally placed or equipped to enforce their stated desire.

Nevertheless they have already fired on several commercial vessels, causing severe damage and deaths in a few cases, even with their imperfect control of the relevant coastline.

What do we know about the intensified fighting?

Military sources speaking off the record told both the DPA and AFP news agencies that both sides had sustained multiple casualties. DPA put the figure in the dozens on both sides, AFP had a more precise estimate of roughly 60 on either side.

Exchanges of fire, on land as well as using rockets and drones, were reported in two southwestern provinces, Taiz and Hodeidah.

The Houthis control the major western port of Hodeidah further north, but large chunks of Yemen's southwestern tip in Taiz including the port of Mokha near the strait are controlled by Saudi-led forces.

"They are going for Bab al-Mandeb," Mohammed al-Basha of the US-based risk advisory Basha Report told the AFP news agency.

Fighting for the high ground, for instance on Mount al-Numan overlooking Mokha, was particularly fierce.

"The Houthis feel that if they capture Bab al-Mandab or Mokha port they will be in a better position of power to negotiate with the government and the Saudis," al-Basha said.

Edited by: Zac Crellin