Yemen Launches Offensive To Seize All Areas From Iran-Backed Houthis, Pg14

Key Highlights:

• Yemen's internationally recognized government launched a major military campaign to recapture all areas from the Iran-backed Houthis.
• President Rashad al-Alimi announced the offensive, aiming to liberate the country from the "terrorist militia."
• The Houthis, formally Ansar Allah, have controlled the capital Sanaa and significant parts of the northwest since 2014.
• Recently, the Houthis captured the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait and approximately 150 km of Red Sea coast.
• The Houthis claimed missile and drone attacks on Saudi Aramco sites in Riyadh and Khurais in response to Saudi-led airstrikes.

Detailed Insights:

• The offensive by the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), Yemen's government, follows the exhaustion of de-escalation efforts.
• The Houthis have historically withstood attacks from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and their Western allies, enhancing their weaponry with Iranian support.
• The capture of the Bab el-Mandeb strait provides the Houthis significant leverage over international shipping routes.
• This conflict is linked to a broader US-Israeli war against Iran, which has seen Iran threaten oil shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Saudi Arabia is providing substantial support to the PLC forces, including aerial combat, with intelligence assistance from the United States.
• Yemen's civil war escalated in 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa, after the 2011 Arab Spring uprising.
• The PLC, recognized by the United Nations, is based in Aden and controls the southern and eastern regions of Yemen.
• A 2022 truce largely held until this year, when Houthi attacks on Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure resumed.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Houthis (Ansar Allah): An Iran-backed Zaidi Shi'ite Muslim armed political and religious movement in Yemen.
• Bab el-Mandeb Strait: A crucial choke point connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, vital for global maritime trade.
• Presidential Leadership Council (PLC): The internationally recognized governing body of Yemen, formed in 2022.
• Arab Spring: A series of anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions that spread across the Middle East and North Africa starting in 2010.