Scores wounded as Iran-backed Houthis attack Saudi Arabia in major regional escalation

For anyone who doesn’t know Ansar Allah (the official name of the “Houthis”) are stronger than the typical rebels and have capabilities on par with basically a state level entity. Although the area they control on the map is a tiny western region of Yemen (mostly mapping with former North Yemen), it’s insanely densely populated since the western mountains catch a lot of moisture that just doesn’t make it to Yemen’s vast desert regions. So they have something like three quarters of Yemen’s population despite the modest amount of land controlled compared to the recognized government. Since they have a huge population way up in the mountains and very devoted warriors those guys are very very tough to dislodge in combat.

The last time Saudi Arabia and Ansar Allah were earnestly at war, Saudi Arabia attempted to get around that and cut off their supplies by taking the Hudaydah port which is the main port for north Yemen. The problem in doing that is that any disruptions to the operations of the port also means halting the continuous flow of aid that many people at the margins rely on to survive and potentially sparking a massive famine, so immense international pressure was put on Saudi Arabia not to do that and they eventually bowed to that pressure.

If Saudi Arabia does really get drawn into this in earnest I would expect they might revive the siege Hudaydah play. The world is less humanitarian minded than it was eight years ago, and I think in particular there is less patience for Ansar Allah in the international community due to the closing the Red Sea for international cargo thing that they’ve done intermittently.