Intense fighting between the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government of Yemen continued on Wednesday, with a focus on controlling Red Sea coastal territory needed by the Houthis to threaten shipping in the Red Sea at Iran’s behest.
“Clashes and attacks were reported in the western provinces of Taiz, Al-Bayda, Al-Dhale and Al-Hudaydah, while government reinforcements were sent to the strategic western coastal city of Mokha near the Bab al-Mandab Strait,” Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported on Wednesday.
Much of the fighting was done by the “Giants Brigade,” also known as the Southern Giants Brigade, a coalition of about 15,000 fighters in Yemen who have been loyal to the government throughout the long Yemeni civil war.
The Giants Brigade is regarded as an elite group within the Yemeni National Resistance Coalition, the broader designation for pro-government fighters in Yemen. Founded in 2015, most members of the brigade are tribal fighters who loathe the Houthis. They have received training and funding from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
On Wednesday, the Giants Brigade claimed it conducted “precise strikes” against Houthi units along the western coast of Yemen, destroying numerous vehicles and drones. According to the pro-government militia, several senior Houthi commanders were killed, along with members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who had been sent to Yemen to help them.
The Giants said they achieved “significant battlefield gains” against the Houthis with air support from the Yemeni government. Government warplanes reportedly conducted over a dozen airstrikes against Houthi positions on Monday to pave the way for the advance.
Other pro-government forces said they repelled a Houthi advance on al-Wazi’yah, a strategically vital town close to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait – potentially a chokepoint for Red Sea shipping that the Houthis and Iran want to control.
“We are looking at both the return of Houthi cross-border attacks into Saudi Arabia and the resumption of the group’s efforts to bring a virtual halt to Red Sea shipping,” Adam Baron of the Washington-based think tank New America told the South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Wednesday.
Baron said Iran and its proxies want to “squeeze U.S.-aligned Gulf states from both sides of the Arabian Peninsula,” creating a race against time with the immense pressure of U.S. sanctions and the blockade on Iran’s economy. To this end, Iran needs its Houthi clients to “maintain a demonstrable capacity to shut down Bab el-Mandeb.”
The SCMP noted that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was blunt in naming Iran as the puppetmaster behind the Houthis on Tuesday, while ministers from the Gulf Arab states were a bit accusatory. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Farhan bin Faisal, for example, left Iran out of his remarks, but warned the Houthis they started a fight they “will not be able to handle” by attacking Saudi cities on Tuesday.
The Saudis have long been supportive of the deposed Yemeni government, and while the Saudis backed away from their intervention in the Yemeni civil war in 2022, recent events suggest they could be gearing up to help the Yemenis and militias like the Giant Brigades conduct a major offensive to recapture the capital of Sanaa. Vital coastal territory along the Red Sea could also figure prominently in Saudi planning.
A major offensive may have been in the planning stages for quite some time. The SCMP noted that Saudi Arabia has been using its financial, technological, and intelligence resources to consolidate the fractious anti-Houthi factions in Yemen into a more coherent force, capable of hitting the Houthis in several vital areas at once and creating opportunities to capture vital territory along the coast.
On the other hand, the Houthis have clearly been making plans for their own offensive, and they seem to understand the importance of holding the coast so they can threaten the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb. The Houthis also seem eager to demonstrate they are still a force to be reckoned with, despite suffering surprisingly high casualties from the government offensive.
On Wednesday the Associated Press (AP) quoted regional officials who said the Houthis helped Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq launch drone “swarm attacks” against Saudi oil facilities in July — a demonstration of cross-border cooperation from Tehran’s proxies across the region, and a sign that Iran understands the importance of ratcheting up the cost of war for the U.S. and its allies.
“The Houthi involvement in the Iraqi drone attack is confirmed by two Saudi officials, citing intelligence, and a senior Iraqi security official. They say Houthi emissaries worked in an operations room run by Iraqi militias,” the report said. At least one of those Houthi advisers was killed by retaliatory U.S. airstrikes.
The AP mused that the Houthis’ bold attacks on Saudi cities this week might have been a miscalculation, as the Saudis and their allies in the Yemeni government proved ready and willing to mount a major counteroffensive immediately.