Forces loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognized government have launched counterattacks against Houthi rebels, and officials say their goal is to recapture the capital, Sanaa, from the Iran-backed group. Fighting intensified on Monday in the provinces of Taiz, al-Bayda and al-Jawf, which is considered the main gateway to the capital. Government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, claimed to have carried out rocket and drone attacks on Houthi positions and reported “intensive battles” involving ground troops. The Houthis said they repelled an offensive in Jawf and that at least seven people were killed in an airstrike on a prison in the city of Al Hazm. They blamed Riyadh for the attack, saying “the aggression will not go unpunished.” Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of wounding at least 73 civilians, including women and children, in recent attacks on the kingdom’s southern provinces. Riyadh also promised a response to the “dangerous escalation.” “retake Sanaa.” Majid al-Nuzaili, spokesman for forces aligned with Yemen’s government, said the goal of the campaign was to “liberate Yemen from the clutches” of the Houthis “and restore Sanaa as the capital for all Yemenis.” He also warned civilians to avoid several main roads leading to Sana’a, saying the alert applies to routes connecting the capital with Marib and al-Jawf, including roads through Nihm, Sirwah, Mahliyah and al-Hazm. Fighting spreads Hostilities mark the most serious escalation since a United Nations-brokered truce halted large-scale fighting in 2022. The war in Yemen began in 2014 after that the Houthis took Sanaa, prompting a Saudi-led military intervention the following year. Diplomats had hoped the truce would become a lasting political agreement, but those efforts have failed amid regional tensions sparked by the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran. Fighting resumed in July, when government forces attacked the Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport, blocking the landing of a plane 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 on the Red Sea. The Houthis had declared a blockade against Saudi ships transiting the waterway, which is a vital shipping corridor between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The strait has taken on new importance for Saudi oil exports since Iran began restricting passage through the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the US-Israel war against the country. Ahmed al-Shalafi, Al Jazeera’s Yemen affairs editor, said Yemeni government forces appear to have “absorbed the initial impact” of the rebel offensive “and expanded the fighting on several fronts, in part to stretch Houthi forces and increase pressure on them.” He said the fighting had been concentrated mainly 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 to Saada province, the main Houthi stronghold,” he said. “Al-Bayda is strategically important because it is located in the center of Yemen and connects eight governorates, four in the north and four in the south.” Casualties increase. The fighting has caused hundreds of victims. The World Health Organization said Monday that at least 728 people have been killed or injured since Aug. 23, mostly in Taiz and along the western coast. An estimated 21,000 people – approximately 3,000 families – have been displaced from Taiz alone since Thursday. Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, said the death toll is expected to rise further as it does not include Monday’s figures. Meanwhile, al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, claimed broad 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 fulfill their constitutional duty until state institutions are restored and their authority is extended to 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 take full responsibility for the consequences of its actions. Separately, the media center of government-aligned forces reported carrying out several airstrikes against Houthi positions west of Taiz late on Monday. Earlier, government-aligned forces announced a ground offensive toward the al-Labanat mountains in al-Jawf and claimed rocket attacks on Yatma in the same province. Media center forces were also “engaged in intense battles” against the Houthis in the province. He added that government-aligned forces had advanced to the outskirts of the Dhi Na’im district in al-Bayda. For their part, the Houthis said they repelled the large-scale advance toward the al-Labanat mountains. that Houthi forces also attacked reinforcements in al-Jawf with several ballistic missiles. It said the attacks destroyed or damaged dozens of vehicles and armored vehicles, and claimed commanders were among those killed or wounded. Earlier, the group also released footage of what they said shows a ballistic missile attack on trucks carrying military equipment from Saudi territory at al-Wadiah camp in the southeastern Hadramawt camp. There was no comment from Saudi Arabia on the Houthi claim. Al Jazeera was unable to independently verify the Houthi or Yemeni government’s claims on the battlefield.
