Fighting is intensifying across Yemen as government forces battle Houthi fighters on several fronts, particularly around the strategic Kahboub mountains near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces said they had repelled a large Houthi infiltration and attack in the mountains. Yemeni media said the Houthis sustained heavy casualties and equipment losses.
The fighting comes amid a Houthi push to seize more territory along Yemen's western Red Sea coast, toward strategically important areas overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb - which like the Strait of Hormuz, is a vital chokepoint for global oil and gas supplies. The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah television network reported Saudi airstrikes on Thursday killed one person and wounded another in the town of Abs. The channel also said Saudi aircraft struck three telecommunications towers in Taiz province.
Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba, of Yemen's U.S. and Saudi-backed government, has warned against what she calls misleading Houthi "messages of reassurance" regarding maritime traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb. The Iranian proxy group has said repeatedly that all tanker traffic in the Red Sea, for which the Bab el-Mandeb is the southern gateway, is safe, apart from Saudi-owned ships. Al-Zouba said the statements could be aimed at giving the Houthis time to rearm and prepare for further attacks, while consolidating control over ground on the Red Sea coast.
Al-Zouba said she had discussed the latest developments around the Bab el-Mandeb, as well as displacement and damage to civilian property and infrastructure, in a Wednesday call with the U.S. chargé d'affaires for Yemen. The heads of state of Lebanon, France and Jordan met Thursday as part of an effort to drum up support for the struggling Lebanese military. Ahead of the talks in Paris, a statement from the office of Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said the three leaders would discuss the situation in southern Lebanon and plans for an international presence there after the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, expires at the end of the year.
A donor conference for Lebanon's cash-strapped army was initially set to take place in February, led by France, Saudi Arabia and the United States. However, it was postponed following the eruption of the Iran war and the latest round of the Israel-Hezbollah war. A new date for the conference was not immediately announced following Thursday's meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Aoun.
Lebanon's army now finds itself caught between the Israeli military – now occupying much of southern Lebanon – and the militant group Hezbollah, which has refused calls to give up its weapons. In June, the Lebanese and Israeli governments announced a framework agreement under which Israel would withdraw gradually from southern Lebanon and the Lebanese army would assume control, while Hezbollah would be disarmed. Implementation of the deal has stalled.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
