Yemen says advancing against Houthis around key Bab al-Mandab strait
Yemeni military sources said on Saturday their forces were advancing against the Houthis in areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait but have not yet secured control of the waterway, after the government launched an operation to capture lost territory.
The Saudi-backed government last week announced a counter-offensive aimed at retaking all areas held by the Houthis, after the pro-Iran group seized Yemen's entire western coastline in a lightning offensive.
Read more Yemen's government declares counter-offensive as Houthis cut vital route to besieged city
The Houthis confirmed that government forces had attacked in the Bab al-Mandab area but they claimed to have repelled the assault.
"Saudi-led forces attempted to advance from the Ras al-Ara area in Lahj governorate towards the area south of Bab al-Mandab," Hizam al-Asad, a member of the Houthis' political bureau, told AFP.
"However, our forces repelled them outside the Bab al-Mandab zone, inflicting heavy losses in personnel and equipment and forcing the survivors to retreat.
"Our forces maintain control over Bab al-Mandab, Mayun Island, and the remaining areas along the country's western coast," he said.
Sources from the military of Yemen's internationally recognised government also said Mayun Island – located in the heart of the strait – remained in Houthi hands as fighting continued.
Claims by the warring parties have been impossible to independently verify, with the situation moving fast on the ground and access for journalists difficult.
Clashes in western Yemen, specifically around the strait, had killed at least 63 people in the past 24 hours, military sources from both sides told AFP on Saturday.
Thirty-five members of government forces had been killed, while 28 Houthis had died, the sources said.
On Friday, a Yemeni military source confirmed to AFP that their forces had launched a "major operation" in the strait region, supported by air power from Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen's government.
After four years of relative calm, Yemen's civil war reignited in July before the Houthi gains on Yemen's western coastline.
Saudi Arabia leads an international military coalition helping the Yemeni government fight the Houthis.
Early on Saturday, the coalition said it had destroyed more than 130 Houthi targets in a "large-scale operation".
The Houthis' Al-Masirah TV channel reported on Saturday that enemy strikes had targeted the Bab al-Mandab area.
It also reported four Saudi strikes on the capital Sanaa's international airport on Saturday, a day after saying two were killed in a Saudi strike on the airport.
In addition to battling Yemeni government forces on the ground, the Houthis have also been firing on targets inside Saudi Arabia, attacking transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian sites with drones and missiles.
Read more Explosions heard in Saudi capital Riyadh after Houthis' deadly attacks on airports
Riyadh said Friday that attacks on the Saudi capital's international airport had killed three people the previous day.
Saudi Arabia has been retaliating with strikes on key Houthi targets inside Yemen.
Houthi media reported on Friday that two people had died in attacks on the airport in the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.
Ordinary civilians have been paying the price for the renewed fighting in one of the world's poorest countries, with more than 200,000 people displaced since July, according to UN data.