Aden (South24 Center)

The Iran-backed Houthi group is preparing to launch a major military operation to seize areas held by Yemen’s internationally recognized government along the country’s West Coast, as the group intensifies missile, drone, and maritime attacks near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to Houthi and Yemeni government sources cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Three Houthi military sources told AFP on Wednesday (August 19) that the group was preparing an operation to seize areas south of Hodeidah. The sources said around 2,000 fighters, along with missile launchers, had been deployed to frontlines in Taiz and Hodeidah governorates in preparation for the offensive.

The Houthis have not officially announced the start of a large-scale ground operation on the West Coast, and South24 Center could not independently verify the scale of the reported reinforcements or details of the planned operation.

Yemeni Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani told AFP that the Houthis were seeking to create conditions for taking control of Bab al-Mandab by expanding their presence along the West Coast and attempting to seize strategic Yemeni islands in the Red Sea. He pointed to the group’s recent military buildup and repeated attacks on ports, docks, vessels, civilian infrastructure, and government naval capabilities.

Major General Sadeq Duwaid, spokesperson for the government-affiliated National Resistance Forces, which controls Mokha and other coastal areas, also told AFP that the Houthis were seeking to establish a foothold near the strait, linking this objective to the continuing attacks on Mokha and its port.

The reports come amid a sharp military escalation along the West Coast. On August 15, government-aligned forces said they had repelled a Houthi attack on the Al-Barh front in western Taiz following hours of clashes.

The escalation has been particularly concentrated around the city of Mokha, a Red Sea port near Bab al-Mandab controlled by the National Resistance Forces led by Presidential Leadership Council member Tareq Saleh.

Since August 9, the Houthis have launched repeated ballistic missile and drone attacks on Mokha and its port. On August 15, port director Abdulmalik Al-Sharabi said the facility had been struck by more than 25 missiles, killing seven people and causing an estimated $16 million in damage. Commercial and maritime operations at the port were subsequently suspended.

The attacks continued despite the suspension of port operations. On August 17, the National Resistance Forces said two additional ballistic missiles struck Mokha port, while five other missiles were launched toward the Bab al-Mandab area on the same day.

The maritime escalation has also resulted in casualties. On August 11, the commercial vessel Tihamah was attacked near Bab al-Mandab. Yemen’s Coast Guard said six people were killed, including four crew members—three Pakistanis and one Indonesian—as well as two members of the Second Naval Brigade. Ten others were injured.

The Yemeni Ministry of Transport said the vessel, which was carrying food supplies, was struck by three ballistic missiles before being targeted by another missile during rescue operations.

The Houthis claimed that the Tihamah was carrying Saudi military equipment, an allegation that could not be independently verified. Reuters described the incident as the first confirmed fatal Houthi attack on a commercial vessel since the latest regional war began in February.

Concerns over maritime security continued this week. On August 19, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an unmanned cargo vessel around 40 nautical miles southeast of Mokha had been hit by several unidentified projectiles and was assessed as a constructive total loss. UKMTO did not attribute responsibility for the incident to any party and said authorities were investigating.

The latest escalation follows the Houthis’ July 20 announcement of what they described as a “maritime blockade” on Saudi Arabia. Since then, the group has claimed attacks on Saudi-linked oil tankers and other vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Arabian Sea.

On Wednesday, Houthi officials claimed that the group had targeted eight Saudi oil tankers between July 20 and August 19 and prevented 48 others from passing through regional waterways.

Current frontlines along the West Coast have remained largely unchanged since government-aligned Joint Forces withdrew in November 2021 from positions around Hodeidah city and redeployed farther south, including around Al-Khokha, while opening new fronts in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah.

The redeployment followed years of restrictions on military operations around Hodeidah under the 2018 Stockholm Agreement.