Yemeni government forces launched a major offensive to retake areas around the Bab el-Mandeb strait from the Houthis, as Pakistan and Turkey agreed to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia and the Houthis struck Riyadh's international airport, oil facilities and military bases in a widening war.
Yemeni officials said forces allied with the internationally recognised government retook on Monday the crucial town of Dhubab just north of the strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.