Yemeni party bloc calls for simultaneous offensive against Houthis on all fronts
Yemen Herald News 
ADEN, Yemen — A bloc of Yemeni political parties aligned with the internationally recognised government called for a simultaneous military offensive against the Houthis on all fronts.
The National Coalition of Political Parties and Political Components made the appeal in a statement carried by Saba, the state news agency.
The account rests on that statement alone. No independent confirmation of the coalition’s deliberations has been published, and Yemen Herald could not verify them.
The coalition praised what it called the bravery and sacrifices of the armed forces, the National Resistance and Yemeni civilians.
It said they were defending the republican system against the Houthis, whom it described as an Iranian-backed militia. The Houthis reject that description and present themselves as a national movement.
The statement urged a genuine and comprehensive military operation across all fronts at once, in its words.
Fighting front by front lets the Houthis choose the time and place of battle, the coalition said.
It called on Yemenis to rally behind the armed forces and the National Resistance in defence of the republic, its unity and its territorial integrity.
The coalition also urged families with relatives serving in Houthi units to bring them home, according to the statement.
It renewed a call on the international community to back the internationally recognised government and to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2216.
The council adopted that resolution on April 14, 2015. It demands that the Houthis withdraw from areas they seized, including Sanaa, and return weapons taken from state institutions.
The resolution also imposes a targeted arms embargo. It remains unimplemented on the ground.
Treating the Houthis as an ordinary political party entrenches what the statement called an illegitimate reality, the coalition said.
That prolongs the threat to Yemen and to maritime security in the Bab al-Mandab strait, according to the same statement.
The strait separates Yemen from the Horn of Africa. It carries traffic moving between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean.
Houthi forces have attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since late 2023. Several vessels have been struck and two have sunk.
The National Resistance is led by Tareq Saleh, a member of the Presidential Leadership Council. Its units hold ground on the Red Sea coast around Mokha.
The council was formed in April 2022 under Rashad al-Alimi. It brings together the main factions opposed to the Houthis.
The statement follows weeks of fighting west of Taiz. The Yemeni army reported Houthi missile and drone attacks across that front in early September.
Government forces said Houthi units fired 14 ballistic missiles at positions in Hodeidah and Taiz on Sept. 3.
The offensive that began last week is the largest since a United Nations-brokered truce took effect in April 2022, according to Agence France-Presse.
Houthi units have used heavy artillery, ballistic missiles and drones along the Red Sea coast in Taiz province, the agency reported.
Government officials and military analysts said the attacks aim to cut Taiz city off from the port of Mokha, AFP said.
The agency counted about 129 people killed. Its tally lists 66 government soldiers, 62 Houthi fighters and one civilian.
Yemen Herald could not verify that count. Casualty figures from the front differ sharply between the two sides.
Mokha itself has come under drone and missile attack. Houthi strikes closed its port earlier this month.
A bloc of 22 Yemeni parties and components carrying a similar name was launched in Aden in November 2024, according to the US mission to Yemen.
That grouping followed a political dialogue in April of the same year, the first among Yemeni parties in more than a decade.
Its stated aims include restoring state institutions, uniting forces against the Houthi takeover and preserving the republican system within a federal framework.
Yemen Herald could not confirm that the body issuing this week’s statement is the same grouping.
The International Organization for Migration recorded 274 families displaced across five governorates between Aug. 23 and Aug. 29.
Taiz accounted for 215 of those families, the agency said. Most moved within the governorate.
Aid needs across the country remain high. More than 22 million Yemenis need assistance this year, according to the United Nations humanitarian response plan published in March.
The plan lists 18.3 million people as acutely food insecure. It seeks 2.16 billion dollars to reach 12 million of them.
The Security Council adopted Resolution 2216 by 14 votes to none, with Russia abstaining.
The truce cited by AFP ran for six months and lapsed in October 2022. No successor agreement has been signed.
Taiz has been divided since 2015. Government-aligned forces hold the city and Houthi units hold ground to its west and north.
Bab al-Mandab narrows to about 30 kilometres between Yemen and Djibouti.
The Houthis began striking merchant vessels in November 2023, saying the attacks were tied to the war in Gaza.
More than 2.2 million children under five are acutely malnourished, the plan says. It puts the number of internally displaced people at 5.2 million.
The coalition groups parties that support the government seated in Aden.
The statement set no timetable for the operation it called for.
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