Yemeni forces launch offensive to retake Houthi-held al-Waziiya in Taiz

The mountainous district is key to control of Mocha, the Red Sea port the Houthis seized last month.Forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government have launched an operation to capture a strategic mountainous district from the Houthis as part of a wider push to retake the Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.The offensive on the district of al-Waziiya in Taiz governorate on Tuesday came as Saudi Arabia, which backs Yemen’s government, intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile targeting the city of Khamis Mushait.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Pakistan, Turkiye join Saudi deterrence against Houthis: What that meanslist 2 of 3Saudi Arabia says East-West pipeline pumping 5.8 million bpdlist 3 of 3Yemen’s government is on the attack against the Houthis. What has changed?end of listThe operation is part of the “Dawn of Yemen” offensive that was announced on Sunday by Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, to retake all remaining Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, which the Iran-backed group has controlled since 2014.The media centre of Yemen’s army said in a post on X that the Homeland Shield Forces, a...