Operation Yemen Dawn, backed by 100 Saudi coalition aircraft, retook the town of Dhubab just north of the strait, as the Houthis claimed they struck Riyadh's international airport, an oil refinery and military bases across Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan and Turkey agreed to deploy troops to the kingdom.
Yemeni government forces launched a major offensive to retake areas around the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Houthis, as Pakistan and Turkey agreed to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia and the Houthis struck Riyadh's international airport, oil facilities and military bases in a widening war.
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Yemeni officials said forces allied with the internationally recognised government retook on Monday the crucial town of Dhubab just north of the strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
They also captured the towns of Bab and Hadeid, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Witnesses said they saw government tanks and forces entering the towns.
The government push came as part of a major offensive launched early Monday under air cover by a Saudi military coalition.
In turn, the Houthis' military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a pre-recorded statement that the group used ballistic and cruise missiles and drones in attacks targeting King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh and an oil refinery in the Red Sea city of Rabigh.
Also attacked were Abha airport, military facilities in Khamis Mushait and other "critical sites" in the cities of Najran and Jizan, he claimed.
The US Embassy in Riyadh warned US citizens on social media to be vigilant about possible drone or missile attacks.
The group formally known as Ansar Allah said they had captured more territory in the southwestern part of Yemen, taking a key town in a blow to the Saudi-backed forces as they advanced toward a strategic provincial capital in the region.
The Saudi-led coalition spokesman, Major General Turki al-Malki, said 100 fighter jets supported government forces. He said the coalition secured "air protection" of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets.
Yemen Dawn advances
The escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has revived Yemen's war after a four-year ceasefire.
On Sunday, the Houthis captured the town of Turbah, which sits on a main road linking the provincial capital of Taiz with the port city of Aden, which serves as an interim seat of Yemen's government. Over the years, the town was a major post for government forces defending Taiz.
Earlier, the Houthis seized several villages and areas on Taiz's outskirts, paving the way for the group to encircle Taiz, Yemen's third-largest city.
The Houthis made a swift push on the country's western coast on the Red Sea in early September, capturing the strategic city of Mokha and several Red Sea islands, gains that enabled them to control the Yemeni side of the Bab el-Mandeb, through which 12% of global trade transits.
The Saudi-backed government said Sunday it was mobilising troops across government-held areas.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised speech that the operations were aiming at "recovering the remaining territories" controlled by the Houthis. He called on the international community to provide support to his government.
Hours after al-Alimi's declaration, the Saudi military spokesperson al-Malki vowed "full operational support" to Yemeni government forces until the Houthis are "eliminated."
Al-Alimi said in a post on X on Monday that the operation — dubbed Yemen Dawn — had started with the aim of "restoring state institutions, liberating" the Houthi-controlled capital Sana'a, and ending "the Houthi terrorist militia coup".
Al-Nazili said government forces were carrying out a "strategic offensive" on the capital. The Houthi media office reported multiple airstrikes on their territories, including Sana'a.
The group's taking of Turbah will likely constrain government forces' ability to reinforce and resupply front-line positions across Taiz province and the provincial capital of Taiz, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
Also on Monday, the foreign and defence ministers of Pakistan and Turkey agreed with Saudi Arabia to deploy military forces to the kingdom under their defence pact.
A joint statement released by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry after an emergency meeting in Riyadh did not specify troop numbers, identify which countries would contribute forces or give a deployment timetable.
The three countries condemned what they described as attempted attacks on Mecca and Medina, as well as continuing attacks on Saudi cities and civilian and economic facilities. The statement did not identify who was responsible.
Concerns over humanitarian crisis spike
Yemen's war began in 2014 when the Houthis launched an offensive from their northern stronghold, capturing Sana'a and forcing the government to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia. It created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, resulting in the deaths of more than 150,000 people.
The latest bout of violence has killed at least 959 people and wounded over 4,200 others, according to the WHO. The flare-up forced about 174,097 people to flee their homes inside Yemen, according to the UN migration agency. More than 3,000 others fled across the waters into Djibouti, the agency reported.
Last week, Yemen's health ministry — part of the internationally recognised government — warned about the war's impact on health facilities and medical staff across Taiz province.
The ministry said in a statement on Friday that health facilities in coastal, western and southern areas of the province have closed or are barely functioning.
A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned by the sharp escalation in fighting" and condemned "the continued Houthi cross-border attacks" on Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis are tied to Tehran's so-called Axis of Resistance — a loose network of militant groups in several countries in the region including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and militias in Iraq, all backed, trained and equipped by the IRGC to varying degrees.