Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition launched a major offensive against the Houthis on October 5, dubbed Operation Dawn of Yemen. Yemeni officials said forces retook the towns of Dhubab, Bab and Hadeid near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki al-Malki said about 100 fighter jets were supporting the operation and that hundreds of Houthi targets had been destroyed. The Houthis rejected the claims of territorial gains. The operation followed Houthi advances toward Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, and fighting that killed more than 70 people over the previous day.

The Houthis retaliated with attacks on several Saudi locations, including King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, an Aramco refinery in Rabigh, Abha International Airport and a base in Khamis Mushait. A Houthi-aligned body warned airlines that Saudi airspace was unsafe except over Mecca and Medina. The competing claims could not be independently verified.