Article

2025-04-13 Arabia

RUMINT: Yemeni gov't reportedly preparing 80,000 man assault on Houthi-controlled Hodeidah port

[Jpost] Yemen's government is reportedly preparing to launch a massive assault to recapture Hodeidah Port in western Yemen from the Houthis, according to a Friday report in Emirati state media.

Yemen's internationally recognized government is preparing to mass nearly 80,000 troops for what would be the largest offensive of the civil war, according to statements by Dr. Abdulaziz Sager, chairman of the Gulf Research Center based in Saudi Arabia, on Friday.

"To my best knowledge, there is a preparation of almost 80,000 soldiers from the legitimate Yemeni government in different locations in order to take over [Hodeidah]," Dr. Sager said.

80,000 soldiers would represent a majority of all non-Houthi forces in Yemen. This would constitute the largest offensive of the civil war and would also set the stage for an assault on the capital city Sana'a, which has been under Houthi control since 2014.

AIRSTRIKES PAVING THE WAY
Emirati state newspaper, The National, reported on Friday that renewed airstrikes on the Houthis generally, but in particular on Hodeidah, had helped pave the way for an upcoming assault, with reports indicating that strikes had killed several key Houthis.

Hodeidah is considered one of Yemen's key ports and was a major source of food imports before the war.

Dr. Sager pointed to the meeting between US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla and the Chief of Staff of the Yemeni Armed Forces Lt. Gen. Sagheer Hamoud Ahmed Aziz in Saudi Arabia last week. Kurilla visited several Middle Eastern countries in the first week of April, including Israel, Jordan, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.

He continued by saying that the US would be providing air cover and drone surveillance to the Yemeni government forces.

"I think we might be at the stage of counting down the end of the Houthis," Dr. Sager said. "They've had every chance for a political discussion and be a part of a government that would save Yemen from all this suffering."

He warned, however, that the assault on Hodeidah would face serious challenges in the form of international scrutiny.

UN INTERVENTION
The previous assault in 2018 involved a coalition of Yemeni, Saudi, and Emirati troops who encircled Hodeidah and began cutting off supplies to Houthi fighters trapped in the port city.

The UN and several states became concerned that this would lead to a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Yemen, which would have led to a famine.

Significant pressure was applied to the coalition forces and the Houthis, leading to the signing of the 2018 Stockholm Agreement in which all military forces were to withdraw and allow for humanitarian corridors to be opened.

By at least 2019, the Houthis had violated this agreement with separatist troops present in Hodeidah; by 2021, they had retaken the entire city and expelled all non-Houthi forces.

Dr. Sager warned that any new assault on the port will be met with similar pressure and that due to the recent cuts to the American and British foreign aid budgets, it may be more difficult to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

Posted by Skidmark 2025-04-13 03:59|| || Front Page|| [10329 views ] Top
File under: Houthis

#1 Yemen has a government?

Posted by Mercutio 2025-04-13 09:02|| 2025-04-13 09:02|| Front Page Top

#2 ^Several.

Posted by Grom the Affective 2025-04-13 10:27|| 2025-04-13 10:27|| Front Page Top

#3 That’d be the puppet government supported by the Saudis, Mercutio. It’s not good for much, and I wouldn’t trust the 80,000 man army to number anything close to that, or be of much use even on the parade ground.

Posted by trailing wife 2025-04-13 13:19|| 2025-04-13 13:19|| Front Page Top

#4 Perhaps that's the Inshallah payroll number?

Posted by NoMoreBS 2025-04-13 13:33|| 2025-04-13 13:33|| Front Page Top

#5 I remember the Saudis used to be at war with the Houthis, but after years of the US trying to "help" the Saudis eventually wound up going with a truce brokered by China. The next year the war between Israel and Gaza broke out, and the Houthis started sinking random traffic going through the Bar-El-Mandeb if they thought the ships' noses were too big. Including some ships carrying Saudi traffic. But by then the operations by the Saudis had been wound down.

SO... maybe winding back up again?

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2025-04-13 21:43|| 2025-04-13 21:43|| Front Page Top

#6 As an old friend named Frank once said, "We're going to have a Frank and Earnest discussion. I'm going to be Frank and you're going to be very very Earnest..."

The Yemenis and their Inshallah targeting is a way for the Russians/Chinese/Iranians to turn anti-Israeli sentiment in the middle east into Anti-European-and-other-western shipping action. Yes, they're supposedly doing it for the people in Gaza, but all they seem to affect is European shipping for the most part. It's another way for Putin to put pressure on Europe to not support Ukraine, while his idiots say they're fighting Israel.

While they occasionally hit a Russian black-fleet tanker or Chinese ship, for the most part they're affecting Europe. (And Egypt, which is strangely OK with the damage to their economy.)

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2025-04-13 21:49|| 2025-04-13 21:49|| Front Page Top

#7 The Saudis (and the UAE and Iraq and Kuwait, etc) _may_ be finally sick of their so-called truce where a lot of their seaborne traffic gets cut off.

Or maybe someone in the US government finally did something. Is anything different about the US since roughly January? I can't tell, I'm working nights, and I get tired of trying to keep up with what all you daywalkers do in the day.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2025-04-13 21:52|| 2025-04-13 21:52|| Front Page Top

11:39 Frank G
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