Can Yemen’s government forces sustain their offensive against the Houthis?

Houthi missile strikes threaten key supply routes on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, intensifying pressure on government forces. Save Share Sanaa, Yemen –A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi group, also known as Ansar Allah, streaks across the sky over Sanaa at midday, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. Its intended target is unclear. It could have been a site in Saudi Arabia or territory to the south and east held by Yemen’s internationally recognised government. For people in northern Yemen, missile launches have become a familiar sight. On Thursday, at least fivepeople were killednear the al-Maashiq presidential palace in Aden after Houthi missile strikes. Yemeni Prime Minister Shaya al-Zindani was present at the palace at the time of the attack, but was unharmed. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack targeted an operational headquarters, part of its campaign against Saudi-backed fighters and equipment supporting the internationally recognised government in Aden. Frequent Houthi missile attacks – combined with the Iranian-backed group’s territorial gains around the city of Taiz in southwestern Yemen – have severed key supply routes and threatened other roads, ports, and airports that government forces rely on for supplies. The disruptions could undermine the government’sDawn of Yemen operation, which aims to recapture territory held by the Houthi group. This includes the capital, Sanaa, which the Houthis seized at the start of the war in 2014. Government officials, however, say supply issues will not halt the offensive, emphasising that their forces can overcome logistical challenges. “The Houthi group consistently attempts to sever supply lines to government forces, but they have been unable to halt these supplies. So, military operations against the Houthis will continue,” Colonel Wadah al-Dubaish, spokesperson for the government-aligned Joint Forces on Yemen’s West Coast, told Al Jazeera. But losses to the Houthis over the past few months have been damaging to the government. A rapid Houthi advance south along the Red Sea coast in early Septembercaptured Mocha, a port on the Red Sea coast and a key supply hub for pro-government forces in western Taiz governorate. A government counter-offensive reclaimed some of the territory lost in the southern Red Sea coast region, but not Mocha itself, which continues to be in Houthi hands....