Backed by 100 Saudi-led coalition warplanes, the Yemeni government forces launched a major offensive against the Houthis on Monday in a bid to reverse recent Houthi gains and restore state authority across the country, said experts.
The Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces launched the Operation Dawn of Yemen against the Houthi group, announcing that they had retaken the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha in southwestern Taiz province.
Yemen's Houthi group said Monday that it had carried out three military operations using ballistic and cruise missiles and drones against airports, an oil facility, and military sites across Saudi Arabia, in response to what it described as intensified Saudi strikes on Houthi-held areas in Yemen.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye agreed to activate deterrence measures under a mutual defense pact and rapidly deployed forces to the Gulf kingdom to counter attacks by the Houthis after the three countries' defense and foreign ministers held an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Monday.
Abdulghani Al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies in Yemen, said that the Iran war has exposed the limits of the U.S. security umbrella, and opened a chance for Saudi Arabia, a traditional U.S. ally, to break free from decades of over-reliance on American protection.
"The Iran war against Iran has made it very clear for the Arab Gulf states that the American bases and their countries were not for their protection, but were for the protection of Israel. And they were basically a magnet for Iranian attacks against these states. So they decided that it is better for them, at least most of them, except the United Arab Emirates, to find an alternative to the American security umbrella. And Saudi Arabia has been trying to get rid of over-reliance on the American security umbrella for decades since 1992. So this is an opportunity for Saudi Arabia to get rid of over-reliance on the U.S. ," he said.
The Saudi Ministry of Defense confirmed that 100 combat aircraft were deployed early Monday morning to provide robust aerial support to the Yemeni government as part of the operation and more than 300 high-value targets were hit.
Wang Jin, a professor of the Institute of Middle East Studies under Northwest University in China, said the scale of the operation is notable, but its strategic goals may be difficult to achieve.
"Judging from the first day's military operations in the past 24 hours, Saudi Arabia's actions this time have been quite forceful. Both Saudi Arabia and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces hope they can draw in Houthi military forces and disperse their attention through attacks on both the east and the west, while also boosting morale by reversing the situation on the battlefield. Therefore, Saudi Arabia is taking certain steps to lift morale. However, if we base our assessment solely on the situation over the past 24 or 48 hours, I believe a significant turnaround on the battlefield remains a considerable challenge," said Wang.
The Houthi group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping in July and has since launched strikes on Saudi tankers and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia while Riyadh intensifies airstrikes against Houthi positions to support the Yemeni government forces in their ground offensive, leading to an escalation across southwestern Yemen.
Yemen's conflict erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 to support the internationally recognized Yemeni government. The recent clashes marked the sharpest escalation since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities in the war-torn country.
Yemeni forces launch major offensive to reverse Houthi gains: experts
Yemeni forces launch major offensive to reverse Houthi gains: experts
