Saudi-backed Yemeni forces said they secured the Bab al-Mandab Strait and besieged Houthis in Dhubab; Houthi media denied advances in the area.
Yemeni forces aligned with the internationally recognised government and backed by Saudi Arabia said they had secured the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the start of a wider offensive against the Houthis, the BBC reported on Monday.
A military spokesman said Giants Brigades and National Shield forces were besieging Houthi fighters in Dhubab, a Red Sea town overlooking the strait, after taking the town’s airport and cutting the road to Mokha. Houthi-run media denied that government forces had advanced in the Dhubab area.
The government said operations had also begun on other fronts, including Sanaa, which the Houthis seized at the start of the civil war 12 years ago. A Saudi-led coalition said its jets had destroyed more than 300 targets described as high-value in support of the offensive.
On Sunday, Rashad al-Alimi, head of the Presidential Leadership Council, announced an offensive to retake all Houthi-held territory and said chances for de-escalation had been exhausted. Last month the Houthis seized areas overlooking Bab al-Mandab, including Dhubab, Mokha and Perim Island.
Control of the strait is disputed in public statements. The BBC reported the government claim and the Houthi denial side by side, and independent confirmation of the battlefield line was not available in the account used here.