By Timour Azhari and Mohammed Ghobari
RIYADH, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces seized key positions on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday, military and government sources said, as they fought to reverse last month's advances by the Iran-backed Houthis and drive them from the vital waterway.
The government forces have taken large parts of Dhubab district, which overlooks Bab el-Mandeb, and are asserting full control over the area with heavy air support from a Saudi-led coalition,
three military sources and one government source told Reuters.
Houthi-aligned media had earlier denied that government forces had made advances in the area.
Fighting has raged along several frontlines in Yemen for weeks after a dormant civil war erupted in a spillover from the US-Iran conflict, with the Houthis seeking to control the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait and firing missiles and drones at Saudi cities and infrastructure.
With Gulf energy exports already restricted by Iran's closure of the Hormuz Strait, the fighting in Yemen has threatened another major oil export route, pushing up global prices and raising new risks in a region already aflame.
The internationally recognised Yemeni government announced on Sunday the launch of its offensive to recapture territory, with President Rashad al-Alimi swearing to fight "until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia".
SAUDI ARABIA BACKS OFFENSIVE TO RETAKE TERRITORY
Saudi Arabia, which arms and trains Yemeni government forces, is backing the military campaign with air power and has sought logistical help from allies to push back the Houthis, restore free traffic in the Red Sea, and end the group's attacks on its territory.
While the war has raged on several frontlines in Yemen, the heaviest fighting has been in the southwest, both in the coastal area near the strait and in the hills around the city of Taiz, where the Houthis are trying to surround government forces.
A Houthi-run news agency on Monday cited a military source as saying that the group had driven government forces from the al-Mawasit district of Taiz province, reaching the home of Alimi, head of Yemen's interim presidential council.
The mountainous district sits close to the main road running from Taiz to Aden, the last route that government forces have had into the city, which has been on the frontlines since early in the civil war.
Yemen's conflict began after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in the following year with an air campaign aimed at restoring the government and ousting the Iran-backed group.
The fighting quickly ground to a bloody stalemate, with most frontlines stalled, leading to a major humanitarian crisis in what was already the poorest Arab state, until a ceasefire was agreed in 2022 that held until this summer.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari, Mohammed Ghobari and Jana Choukeir; Writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Gareth Jones)
