On Monday, forces of the internationally recognized government of Yemen launched an offensive against the Houthi Ansarallah forces that took control of the Bab el Mandeb after a lightning advance down the Red Sea coast from Hodeidah last month. Within hours, the government forces claimed they had recaptured the entire coastline all the way up to Mocha, some 70 km north of the strait. Also within hours, however, Ansarallah brought in reinforcement, and claimed to have driven the government forces back as far as Dhubab, about half way back to the strait. The safest thing that can be said is that the situation is still in flux, and may look entirely different by tomorrow.

Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi announced the government offensive on Sunday as a response to setbacks suffered by government forces in Taiz province the day before. “Today, I announce the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory,” he said, in a televised address, reported Reuters. “Our position today is to assume the national responsibility of confronting the Houthi militia, after all opportunities for de-escalation have been exhausted,” he said. Al-Alimi said he had ordered the armed forces, security forces, and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned tasks under approved plans.

AnsarAllah armed forces also reportedly targeted Pumping Station No. 2 of Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, located east of Riyadh. Sentinel-3 satellite imagery was reported to show a plume of black smoke, approximately 50 kilometers long, rising over the site of the attack on Sunday, October 4. Pumping Stations No. 8, 9 and 10 had previously been hit, while No. 7 was described as “highly temperamental” following a sophisticated systems-hacking attack. The East-West pipeline requires 13 pumping stations to move oil, with four now reported offline.

The status of the pipeline is unclear, however, with Bloomberg contradicting an AFP report early Monday that claimed Saudi authorities had shut down the pipeline. “People familiar with the matter “ told Bloomberg that it was operating normally.