Civilians Have Also Died in a Rocket Attack.

Heavy fighting has erupted in southwestern Yemen between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni state army, marking one of the most intense clashes in the country in years. The Houthis have launched an offensive believed to be aimed at gaining control over the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and is vital for oil transport. The fighting broke out Thursday and has already claimed dozens of lives.

The French news agency reports that more than sixty Houthi rebels have been killed so far, along with over ninety soldiers from the state army. Civilians have also died in a rocket attack. The clashes are taking place mainly around the Yemeni port city of Mokka and areas west of Taiz, according to the Arab television channel Al Jazeera.

The port city, located near Bab el-Mandeb, is under the control of the Yemeni government. If the Houthi rebels were to seize the city, they could step up attacks on ships in the important strait or halt shipping traffic there. The Shiite militia announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia in July for the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

Saudi Arabia is an ally of the United States, and the rebels accused the country of bombing the airport of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is in Houthi hands. A civil war broke out in Yemen more than ten years ago between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the government supported by Saudi Arabia. The bloody conflict has killed more than 200,000 people.

A ceasefire was reached in 2022, but it has not led to an end to the war. Last month, the independent think tank International Crisis Group, which works to prevent wars, wrote that the fighting between the rebels and government forces has intensified. Yemen's Houthi rebels launch offensive in southwest, heavy clashes near Bab el-Mandeb strait.