Daijiworld Media Network - Sanaa

Sanaa, Oct 18: Fierce fighting erupted near Yemen’s strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait on Sunday as government forces launched a fresh offensive against Houthi positions in the area, a government military official told Xinhua.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said units from the Giants Brigades and Nation Shield Forces advanced from several directions to capture key Houthi-held positions overlooking the approaches to the strait.

Heavy clashes were underway as Houthi fighters resisted the advance from fortified positions and trenches. Extensive minefields had also complicated the government forces’ offensive, the official said, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“The fighting is among the fiercest we have seen in the area,” the official said. “The Houthis are heavily entrenched, and our forces are trying to break through their defensive lines.”

The official said the Houthis had also deployed fibre-optic-guided first-person-view kamikaze drones, known as “Shawaz”, against the advancing government troops.

Several people on both sides were killed or wounded in the fighting, the official said, without providing specific figures.

The outcome of the offensive remained unclear as clashes continued, with no confirmation of significant territorial gains. The latest push follows previous attempts by government forces to break through Houthi defences in the area.

Bab al-Mandeb, which separates Yemen from the Horn of Africa, connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serves as a vital passage for international trade.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen announced on Saturday that it had intercepted and destroyed four drones over Riyadh and Saudi Arabia’s eastern and southern regions in recent hours. It also destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Yemen’s northern Saada province.

In a series of posts on social media platform X, coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said coalition forces had intercepted and destroyed four drones in different parts of Saudi Arabia, without providing further details about their exact locations or possible casualties.

Al-Maliki also announced that coalition forces had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Saada province.

The developments came amid escalating hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia, with both sides exchanging attacks and military warnings in recent days.