Yemen on brink of wider war as Houthis escalate attacks
Yemen is showing fresh signs of sliding back toward full-scale war, with government forces reporting dozens of attacks on Houthi positions and the rebels claiming drone strikes against targets in neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Yemeni government forces carried out 81 operations against Houthi fighters and positions across the country in the past 24 hours, government military spokesperson Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said Thursday, Al Jazeera reported.
He said the operations killed or “neutralized” a number of Houthi fighters and field commanders and destroyed military equipment, vehicles and other targets.
The Houthis, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for two drone attacks in Saudi Arabia’s Najran province, just across the border from Yemen.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had successfully struck a target at Najran airport and an Aramco facility in the province. Saudi authorities had not immediately confirmed the claims.
The escalation comes as fighting has intensified across Yemen over the past month, raising fears that a conflict largely frozen since a 2022 UN-brokered truce could once again become a major war.
Rising attacks across Yemen
Government forces say they have carried out hundreds of operations against the Houthis in recent weeks, while exchanges of fire and drone attacks have been reported along much of the country’s front line.
So far, neither side has announced a major ground offensive, but the growing use of drones and missiles has expanded the confrontation beyond traditional front-line positions.
Both sides have also reported attacks on infrastructure, including ports and airports.
The Houthis have accused the government and its allies of escalating military operations, while Yemen’s internationally recognized government has accused the rebels of trying to impose a blockade and halt oil exports.
The escalation has also raised tensions with Saudi Arabia.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which supports the Houthis, warned Thursday that Saudi Arabia would be unable to contain the group as attacks against the kingdom increase.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted Saudi infrastructure and shipping since announcing a naval blockade of Saudi Arabia in July.
UN warns of humanitarian catastrophe
The renewed fighting is particularly alarming in a country already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
At least 18 million people in Yemen lack reliable access to sufficient food, according to the United Nations.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called on the warring parties earlier this week to avoid actions that could return the country to full-scale conflict and urged them to spare civilians from further suffering.
The Houthis seized much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014. Their advance triggered years of war involving government forces and a Saudi-led coalition.
A UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely reduced the intensity of the fighting, although the underlying political conflict remained unresolved.
The latest escalation now threatens to undo much of that relative calm.
The security situation is also spilling into the waters surrounding Yemen. On Thursday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said a tanker was boarded by six armed people off Yemen, who took control of the vessel and diverted it toward Somalia.
The incident adds another layer of uncertainty to an already volatile security environment around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.