Yemen civil war intensifies as Houthis strike Saudi military base amid Red Sea battle

Yemen's civil war is intensifying as Saudi-backed government forces launch a counteroffensive to retake strategic positions from the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, who have been tightening their grip on the Red Sea.

Yemen's state-run Saba news agency, citing AFP, reported that government forces destroyed Houthi vehicles and weapons and killed fighters near the port of Mocha on Saturday (local time). A government military spokesperson said forces also struck targets near Mocha port.

The Yemeni armed forces said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Yemeni air force carried out three airstrikes against Houthi militant strongholds and barracks in the Taiz region.

The Houthis said that over the preceding 48 hours, Saudi aircraft had conducted 129 airstrikes on areas under their control.

The government offensive was triggered by the Houthis' rapid seizure of key positions around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the mouth of the Red Sea. The Houthis are part of Iran's so-called "Axis of Resistance," which aims to counter US and Israeli influence in the Middle East.

Beyond Mocha port, the Houthis are also reported to have seized Perim Island, a strategic foothold needed to control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — a critical oil shipping lane.

Should the Houthis gain full control of the strait, Saudi Arabia would face blockades on two fronts: the Strait of Hormuz to the east, already under threat from Iran, and the Red Sea oil route to the west.

To check the expansion of Shiite-led Iran's influence in the strategically vital Red Sea, Sunni-led Saudi Arabia intervened early in the Yemen civil war, which began in 2014, and continues to back the government forces.

As government and Saudi strikes continued, the Houthis struck back. Saudi authorities said Saturday evening that a Houthi projectile landed in the Jizan region near the border, injuring two people and damaging several buildings, including a mosque, and vehicles.

The Houthis announced Sunday that they had attacked a military base in Sharurah in southern Saudi Arabia using drones and missiles. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sari said the strike targeted "weapons depots and command-and-control centers leading the aggression against our country and people." The Houthis did not disclose the exact timing of the attack.

The escalating conflict has sent the number of displaced people soaring. The International Organization for Migration, a UN agency, said in a statement Sunday that the number of people displaced in Yemen since July had reached 76,000.

The IOM said more than 70,000 of those were displaced in September alone, and that the number of displaced persons counted this week was four times the total from last week.

"Most of the displaced are moving as families and often travel at night," the IOM said. "There is nowhere safe for them to go."

Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa. After a truce in 2022 brought a period of relative calm, fighting has escalated sharply since July.