Saudi deploys 100 fighter jets to help Yemen forces as they retake Red Sea

Intense clashes broke out on Monday between Iran-backed Houthi rebels and Riyadh-backed Yemeni forces over one of the world’s most important shipping lanes

Yemen’s Saudi-backed forces have retaken key areas along the Red Sea from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in a major offensive launched on Monday.

The move, by the forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government, came as the Iran-aligned rebel group said they had captured the town of Turbah on Sunday, a key territory in the southwestern part of the country.

According to Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani, Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces retook positions on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, though fighting continues with Houthi forces in the area.

The Houthis earlier denied that government forces had made gains, describing such claims as "completely untrue", and they threatened to attack any aircraft flying in Saudi airspace.

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Mr Eryani said the military had seized Dhubab airstrip, located just inland from the strait, and cut off remaining Houthi forces in the area; another government source said fighting continued at a military base near the strait.

Saudi-led coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said 100 fighter jets were providing support to the Yemeni forces fighting the Houthis.

He said the coalition has secured “air protection” of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets as part of the ongoing campaign, reports The Independent.

Yemeni military sources told The Telegraph that Saudi-led air strikes began the campaign with a ground push by government units towards the strait.

It added that they had carried out more than 1,000 strikes, with 100 warplanes attacking at dawn.

Control of the strait by Yemen’s forces could provide a significant security boost for shipping, making it harder for the Houthis to disrupt shipping between the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.

But they could still target vessels with drones from positions further up the coast and inland.

According to the Telegraph, Gen. al-Malki said large parts of the Dhubab district, which overlooks Bab el-Mandeb, had been seized, describing the operation as a “strategic offensive operation on Sanaa” which utilised “modern capabilities”.

A Yemeni defence minister added that forces had taken “full control of Bab al-Mandeb and Mayun Island”.

Last month, the Houthis seized much of the Red Sea coastline, pushing up global oil prices, after a dormant civil war erupted in a spillover from the US-Iran conflict.

The renewed fighting has worsened a humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with the UN migration agency saying on Monday that some 184,000 people had now been displaced since the war resumed.

On Sunday, the country's internationally recognised government said it was mobilising troops across government-held areas.

The offensive is part of a broader 'Operation Dawn of Yemen'. Saudi Arabia, which arms and trains Yemeni government forces, is backing the military campaign with air power and has sought logistical help from allies to push back the Houthis, restore free traffic in the Red Sea, and end the group's attacks on its territory.

Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised speech that the operations were aiming at “recovering the remaining territories” controlled by the Houthis.

He vowed to fight “until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia” and called for the international community to provide support to his government.

He set the recapture of Sanaa as the ultimate goal to help move Yemen “towards a new dawn of freedom, peace, and stability”.

Riyadh said on Monday it had attacked hundreds of targets in Yemen to provide air cover for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and Yemeni ground forces.

The Yemeni government said it had launched attacks on several fronts, including in the province of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital.

The Houthi-run health ministry said two people had been killed and seven wounded in strikes on Sanhan and Sa'wan districts in Sanaa province.