Trump calls Al-Ahmar, delays strike on Houthis
US President Donald Trump made a rare phone call with Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi late Sunday into Monday, according to Reuters, while US media reported that Trump decided to postpone a US strike against the Houthis.
Reuters cited four sources who said al-Alimi requested US support for the Yemeni government in its fight against the Houthis, who earlier this month seized strategic areas along the strait in a lightning attack.
Axios quoted a US official as saying that Central Command Commander Brad Cooper had prepared options for launching strikes in Yemen, but Trump reviewed the proposals and decided to hold off.
The New York Times reported that the US military was on the verge of launching airstrikes against the Houthis on Sunday, with troops loading bombs onto aircraft, but Trump canceled the strikes at the last minute.
The New York Times reported that Trump changed his position several times in recent days regarding his strategy in Yemen, backing away from carrying out strikes against the Iran-backed Houthis for fear of drawing Washington into a new front in the Middle East.
According to administration officials who spoke to the New York Times, Trump told his advisors he opposed launching strikes, but he reversed his position on Thursday and “ordered the Pentagon to prepare to carry out airstrikes against the Houthis.” However, by Sunday noon, he appeared to have reversed course again, deciding not to carry out the strikes, “at least for now.” Trump told Fox News yesterday that the Houthis had agreed not to fight the United States.
On the ground, the Houthi militia is seeking to seize the Kahab heights in order to isolate the Red Sea coast from the remaining southern areas under the control of the Yemeni army, which has in turn managed to recapture key positions in the strategic area between Lahj and Taiz governorates, overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
Five Yemeni military sources told Reuters today that the fighting between the Houthis and the Yemeni government in the Kahab mountains has focused on the outskirts of the remote mountainous Wazeia district in Taiz governorate, and at Ras al-Ara on the Indian Ocean coast, between the Red Sea entrance seized by the Houthis last week and the government base in Aden.
According to the sources, the Houthis aim to seize these heights to strengthen their positions around the Bab el-Mandeb strait leading to the Red Sea, enabling them to open new fronts. This would protect the exposed positions they captured during their advance around Zubab on the Red Sea and on Perim Island in the strait.
In response, a Yemeni military source confirmed intense clashes on the Kahab front, located between Lahj and Taiz governorates and overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb strait, explaining that the fighting has continued intermittently without any breakthrough or strategic shift for either side in this vital area.
Previously, the Houthis pushed heavily toward the Kahab front, which overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb strait, as controlling it allows for fire control over key sections of the international waterway.
The Houthis’ recent control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait threatens to cut off the main alternative route used by Saudi Arabia to export oil, which avoids disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.
