Yemeni forces launch counteroffensive against Houthis, vow to retake Sanaa

Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government have launched counterattacks against the Houthi rebels, with officials saying they aim to recapture the capital, Sanaa from the Iran-backed group.

Fighting intensified on Monday in the provinces of al-Bayda and al-Jawf, seen as the main gateway to the capital, with the Houthis saying at least seven people were killed in a strike on a prison in the town of al-Hazm.

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Yemen’s deputy defence minister, Major-General Samir Al-Sabri, said in remarks broadcast on state television that the internationally recognised Saudi Arabia-backed government has decided to “retake Sanaa”.

Majid al-Nuzaili, a spokesman for Yemen’s government-aligned forces, said the objective of the campaign was to “liberate Yemen from the grip” of the Houthis “and restore Sanaa as a capital for all Yemenis”.

He also warned civilians to avoid several major roads leading into Sanaa, saying the alert applies to routes connecting the capital with Marib and al-Jawf, including roads through Nihm, Sirwah, Mahliyah and al-Hazm.

Clashes spread

The hostilities mark one of the most serious escalations since a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 halted large-scale fighting. The war in Yemen began in 2014 after the Houthis took Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year.

Diplomats had hoped the truce in 2022 would evolve into a durable political settlement, but those efforts have faltered amid regional tensions triggered by the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran.

Fighting in Yemen resumed in July, when government forces struck the Houthi-controlled airport in Sanaa, blocking the landing of an aircraft from Iran. Then last week, the Houthis launched a major offensive, trying to advance through western Taiz and southern Hodeidah, towards the port city of al-Makha and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea.

Earlier, the Houthis had declared a blockade against Saudi vessels transiting the waterway, which is a vital corridor for shipping between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The strait has taken on new significance for Saudi oil exports since Iran began restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz at the outset of the US and Israel’s war on the country.

Ahmed al-Shalafi, Al Jazeera’s Yemen affairs editor, said Yemeni government forces appear “to have absorbed the initial shock” of the rebel offensive “and expanded the fighting across several fronts, partly to stretch Houthi forces and increase pressure on them”.

He said the fighting was mainly concentrated west of Taiz and south of Hodeidah on Thursday, but has now spread to the provinces of al-Dhalea, Marib, al-Jawf and al-Bayda.

“Al-Jawf is particularly important because it borders Saudi Arabia and connects towards the province of Saada, the Houthis’ main stronghold,” he said. “Al-Bayda is strategically significant because it lies at the centre of Yemen and connects eight governorates – four in the north and four in the south.”

Casualties mount

The fighting has resulted in hundreds of casualties.

The World Health Organization said on Monday that nearly 900 people have been killed or wounded since Thursday, with the majority in Taiz and along the western coast. It said an estimated 21,000 people – roughly 3,000 families – have been displaced from Taiz alone.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, said the casualty count is expected to rise further as it does not include figures from Monday.

“The casualties from Monday are said to be in the hundreds from both sides, especially as we have reports of airstrikes being conducted in the governorate of Al-Jawf,” he said.

Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, meanwhile claimed sweeping gains against the Houthis on Monday, crediting government forces with advances in al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Taiz and Hodeidah.

“Our armed forces will continue to carry out their constitutional duty until state institutions are restored and their authority extends over the entire territory of Yemen,” al-Alimi said in a statement. He accused the Houthis of choosing escalation over peace, warning that the group would bear full responsibility for the consequences of its actions.

The media centre of the government-aligned forces reported carrying out several air attacks against Houthi positions west of Taiz late on Monday. Earlier, they had claimed attacks on Yatma in al-Jawf and said their forces were “engaged in intensive battles” against the Houthis in the province.

The media centre said that government-aligned forces had also advanced to the outskirts of Dhi Na’im district in al-Bayda.

For their part, the Houthis said they repelled a large-scale advance by Saudi-backed forces towards the al-Labanat mountains in al-Jawf.

In a post on X, Mohammed al-Farah, a member of the Houthi political bureau, claimed that dozens of government-aligned fighters were killed or wounded and that Houthi forces also targeted reinforcements in al-Jawf with several ballistic missiles.

He said the strikes destroyed or damaged dozens of vehicles and armoured vehicles, and claimed that commanders were among those killed or wounded.

The group also released footage of what they said shows a ballistic missile strike on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi territory at the al-Wadiah camp in the southeastern Hadramawt camp.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claims by the Houthis or the Yemeni government.