(The Turkish Post) – The Yemen war has returned in full, the United Nations envoy for the country told the Security Council on Friday, Oct. 9, as Houthi forces cut the main road into the city of Taiz and a Saudi-led coalition announced a large air operation against the group.
Fighting in the Yemen war has spread from the Red Sea coast to inland front lines and across the border, where Houthi attacks on Saudi airports killed three people this week. The United Nations says more than 200,000 Yemenis have been displaced since the start of August, the highest level of new displacement since a truce in 2022.
UN envoy says the Yemen war is back
“In the past few weeks, Yemen has slid back into full-scale war, with hostilities spreading across multiple front lines,” UN envoy Hans Grundberg told the council.
Grundberg condemned Houthi strikes on Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure, including the airports in Abha and Riyadh. He warned that threats against Saudi-linked commercial ships in the Red Sea could unsettle international shipping and energy markets.
He urged both sides to return to negotiations. “Unless war is to become Yemen’s permanent reality, the time to consider political strategies is now,” he said.
Taiz cut off from Aden
Houthi forces took the town of al-Turbah, south of Taiz, around Oct. 4, cutting the main road that links the city with the port of Aden and other government-held areas, according to Yemeni military sources and local officials. One government source disputed that the town had fallen.
Taiz, one of Yemen’s largest cities, was besieged by the Houthis from 2015, and the group kept a partial blockade on it for years after government forces broke the siege in 2016. Government troops have since launched a counteroffensive and regained some ground south of the city.
Coalition air campaign and Houthi attacks
The Saudi-led coalition that supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced a large-scale operation against the Houthis on Friday night. It said it had destroyed 136 military targets in Houthi-held areas, and coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said its aircraft were giving government forces air support “around the clock.”
Earlier this month, government forces backed by the coalition said they had driven the Houthis from the coast along the Bab al-Mandeb strait, including the Dhubab area and the port of Mokha, after a Houthi advance there in September. The Houthis denied losing ground.
On Thursday, Oct. 8, Houthi strikes on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and on a passenger plane of the Saudi national carrier killed three Saudi citizens, including the aircraft’s pilot, Saudi authorities said. The Houthis claimed responsibility. Air traffic at the airport returned to normal the next day.
At the Security Council, Saudi Arabia’s representative described the situation as a “dangerous escalation,” while the representative of Yemen’s government said the Houthi threat was no longer an internal Yemeni matter. Both called for action by the council.
A war with regional reach
The Bab al-Mandeb strait, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is one of the main shipping routes between Asia and Europe. Houthi attacks on ships in the area since late 2023 forced many shipping lines to reroute around southern Africa.
The Yemen war began when the Houthis, who are backed by Iran, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. They still control the city and much of northern Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition entered the war in March 2015 to support the government. The UN estimated that by the end of 2021 the conflict had killed about 377,000 people through fighting, hunger and disease.
