Houthis push for control of highlands

Fighting intensifies in mountains between Red Sea and Indian Ocean coasts

RIYADH/DUBAI:

Houthi fighters pushed to seize strategic heights in Yemen on Monday to cut off the Red Sea coast from remaining areas held by Saudi-backed forces, after a report that President Donald Trump had called off US strikes on the group at the last minute.

The New York Times reported that the Trump administration had prepared to launch airstrikes on Sunday against the Houthis after fresh pleas from the Saudi crown prince. But the newspaper said Trump called off the airstrikes at the last minute, even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft.

Reuters could not immediately verify the Times' report. The US military's Central Command referred questions to the White House. The White House did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Rashid al-Alimi, the Riyadh-based president of Yemen's Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, asked Trump by phone on Sunday for US military help, four sources told Reuters. Two of the sources, one Yemeni and one Western, said Trump made no direct pledge of support during the call.

According to the United Nations, nearly 700 people have been killed and thousands injured in the flare-up in fighting. Nearly 130,000 Yemenis have fled homes within Yemen, and more than 3,000 have fled by boat across the Red Sea to Africa.

Five Yemeni military sources told Reuters the Houthis were now seeking to seize strategic heights, known as the Kahboub Mountains, in two provinces, Taiz and Lahij, which separate the Red Sea coast from the government-held south.

Fighting has centred on the outskirts of the remote mountain Al-Wazi'iyah district in Taiz province, and Ras al-Ara along the Indian Ocean coast between the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the Red Sea's mouth and the government's base in Aden, the sources said.

"The government forces appear to remain largely in a defensive posture following the loss of the Bab el-Mandeb area, while the Houthis are seeking to maintain the momentum of their advance, despite being exposed to intensive air strikes," said Mohammed Al-Qadhi, a veteran Yemeni journalist now working as a political analyst.

"These mountains could become critical to determining whether the Houthis succeed in

consolidating their recent territorial gains or whether government

forces will be able to retain the positions necessary to mount a counteroffensive."