Houthis Reach Within 80 km of Aden in Closest Advance Since 2015

Aden, Yemen. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have pushed to a point 80 km (50 miles) from Aden, the main stronghold and temporary capital of the internationally recognised government, according to four military sources who spoke to Reuters on Monday. The position is the closest they have come to the city since the first months of the war in 2015, when they briefly entered it and were then forced out.

New front in a wider regional conflict

The offensive has created an unstable new front in the broader US-Israeli war on Iran, pulling both the Houthis and Saudi Arabia further into the regional confrontation. The Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen’s government, and the Saudi-led coalition has answered with more intense strikes on Houthi positions inside Yemen.

Related: Saudi-led coalition says it downed Houthi missiles and drones aimed at two Saudi regions

RelatedSaudi-led coalition says it downed Houthi missiles and drones aimed at two Saudi regions

The fighting has broken a truce brokered by the UN in 2022, which had largely stopped major attacks in a war that started in 2014, when the Houthis expelled the government from Sanaa.

Strategic roads and coastline at risk

The advance endangers key positions on the main road connecting Aden with Taiz, a besieged city, and this route is a vital artery for southwestern Yemen. It comes after a wider offensive launched in September, in which the Houthis moved down Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took territory along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The strait is among the world’s most important shipping lanes and a key route for Saudi oil exports to Asia.

According to the military sources, the latest move gives the Houthis an opportunity to outflank government forces along the mountain range that overlooks the strait. Government troops had driven Houthi fighters out of that area only a few weeks earlier.

Pressure on Aden

Houthi attacks on Aden, which has served as the government’s temporary capital since 2015, have also grown in recent weeks. The group hit Aden airport on Wednesday after warning people to leave the area, and the presidential palace was struck in October.

On Monday, the Houthis and government forces were fighting at a military camp at the entrance to the Tur al-Bahah district, one of the principal approaches to Aden. The camp lies about 50 km from Lahj, the provincial capital, and 80 km from Aden.