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On June 27, the Saudi-led coalition and its Yemeni proxies recaptured the town of al-Faza along the western Yemeni coast, thus reopening a supply line for their units south of the city of al-Hudaydah, according to the UAE-based al-Arabiya TV.
The Sky News Arabia TV said that the Saudi-led coalition killed and captured dozens of Houthi fighters during the clashes in al-Faza. The remaining fighters of the Houthis withdrew towards the town of Zabid, northeast of al-Faza, according to Yemeni sources.
In what appears to be a response to the Saudi-led coalition advance, the the Yemeni Missiles Force [loyal to the Houthis] announced that it had launched a Qaher M2 medium range ballistic missile at a gathering of coalition forces in the western coast of Yemen. However, no hit was reported by any source.
Now after securing their supply line along the western Yemeni coast, the Saudi-led coalition and its proxies will likely launch a new ground attack on the airport of al-Hudaydah very soon. The Houthis managed to repel two attacks on the airport earlier this month and may do it once again.
How unfortunate. :( Back and forth the battle goes.
Yup.
This is too bad. But that’s the way war goes. The Houthis’ strategic problem is that they have no real depth, and their operational problem is that they have no real “man line” conventional units that can seize and hold ground. I think that so far the only thing that has saved them is the utter incompetence of the Saudi/UAE mercenary army; who “all of a sudden” recently got better with the arrival of US and French “advisors.”
Isn’t Emmanuel Macron a piece of shit. I’ve always wondered about that name – I’m pretty sure he’s a crypto-jew
It will be retaken eventually by the Houthis.
“Eventually” is kind of meaningless. Could mean 10 thousand years from now.
The Houthi’s have even bigger plans :)
This report is largely from pro-coalition sources which are notoriously untrustworthy. I have been closely monitoring reports from wide,range of sources and they tell a story by what is talked about, emphasized, and not talked about. The reporting has changed dramatically in past few days and is consistent as well. I summarize below.
Coalition offensive ended and coalition forces set up defensive positions 3 miles south of the airport. There are no longer reports of coalition advances or of taking any territory. Increasing discussion in media of diplomatic efforts to extricate the coalition out of what has been a disastrous operation. The language and framing of events are notable for absence of bombastic announcements and confidence in success of operation.
Coalition aircraft highly active and increasingly targeting civilian targets which is sign of growing frustration with coalition failure to take any of the offensive objectives while suffering heavy losses.
Houthis have shifted increasingly to offensive posture and have carried the fight into Saudi Arabia.seizing a major border crossing. Coalition forces are in general retreat and in defensive posture. Indications are that Houthi shift to offensive posture was pre-planned given the smooth transition and effectiveness of offensive operations.
This battle is already over. The coalition lost. The second phase of the battle has now begun and developing momentum. This is full scale Houthi counter-offensive and the coalition are beginning to wake up to this new reality and this is why calls for ending hostilities are gaining more prominence in reporting. The Houthi counterattack is classic tactic to press the enemy to the negotiating table,where the Houthis will be in a position of strength.
Another sign things have gone badly and time to halt hostilities is more open reporting on coalition attacks on civilians and complicity of US, UK and France. Talk of humanitarian disaster was always widely reported in media but now it is being more directly linked to coalition and allies. This reporting is coming from pro-coalition sources as well. This is expected as elites backing operation grow increasingly concerned and support fractures. The reporting serves to undermine support for the offensive so that a non-military solution is found. Once elite support evaporates, then combatants have no choice but to accept this reality and this is reflected in the tone of media reporting of late.
Thanks for all the added detail, S Melanson. I have to wonder how reluctant the UAE mercs must be getting to keep fighting. The place is starting to look like a junkyard with all the burnt out APCs and up-armored trucks everywhere on the coast.
The mercs probably more than anything want to shoot the commanders that planned operation ‘Golden Victory’. Being Islamic, I would think they would Know better than to presume victory when that is the prerogative of Allah and Allah alone. Mercs not doing any offensive actions that is for certain, coalition is now on the defensive. Seems Allah has decided – no victory for you.
As for the junkyard, let it serve as a reminder to the coalition of the cost of vanity.
And for the world’s elites, the flaming wreckage of their defeated coalition shall remind them once again that in the end, justice prevails.
Thanks for the detail. Do you know if anyone’s estimated the cost of this war to the “coalition”?
Costs no doubt are high but how much depends on how you calculate and what is included. For example, a price cannot be put on effects of the failure of Golden Victory which has done a lot of damage to the prestige and credibility of the Saudi regime. The cost of allying with the US had the Saudis agree to crashing oil prices to harm Iran and Russia. The cost to the Saudis on this alone has been enormous and your avatar name is apt here – goingbroke.
It comes down to the overall costs of policy and US hegemonic policy will bankrupt the US and any other power that goes along.
I reckon there’s a shortage of Bic lighters in Yemen
Thank you for the detailed comment. The issue is that the Houthis had provided no new reliable reports on the situation in the area by the moment when the article was written. We would be glad if you continue to provide details and your opinions in comments to our coverage of the Yemeni conflict. Sincerely yours, SF Team
Thank you for the encouragement and I will do my best to continue giving commentary on Yemen. Note that your article is fine as you cite your sources and report faithfully what they allege has happened which shows journalistic integrity. Readers can see the source of the info and come to their own conclusions. My one suggestion is to include in the title the primary source for the article – for example: ‘according to coalition sources’.
If you are finding research and analysis to be more frustrating, I feel your pain. I have noticed that researching sensitive topics is more and more difficult as search results are increasingly biased and I no longer trust the integrity of search query results. Is this your experience as well?
Also, Yemen reporting seems to be in a class of its own. Analysis of media reporting on Yemen is frustrated by manipulation of the media on a scale that is far more than is typical. This tells me the Yemen campaign has high strategic importance for reasons that are unclear to me at this time.
Fortunately, bias and censorship tells the story almost as well as telling the truth if you know how to interpret the reporting – although it is more involved and time consuming,
But I am up for a good challenge.
I think everyone is to preoccupied with the port. In fact I’m sure that the Saudis could attack and quickly seize a town on the southeastern front and achieve total surprise.
Its a shame they couldnt keep that spearhead cut off and starving, that being said the road isnt far and its very long.