Yemen: Fighting has intensified across multiple frontlines - Briefing | United Nations

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg warned the latest developments across multiple frontlines, including at the port city Mokha, risk dragging the country into the wider and unresolved regional confrontation, with global repercussions. The Special Envoy spoke at an emergency Council meeting on Yemen via video link, following Houthi attacks in southern Saudi Arabia and the capture of Mokha. Grundberg told the Council that over the past twenty-four hours, the fighting has intensified across multiple frontlines, especially the strategic west coast. Ansar Allah launched a major offensive, including on Mokha, the port city that lies roughly 75 kilometers from the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden through which a substantial share of global trade and energy passes. As of right now, Grundberg said, “they have gained control of Mokha, giving them a direct presence on the approaches to one of the world’s most vital straits, although fighting is ongoing and the situation remains fluid.” He stressed, “this development is raising serious concerns within the international community about the threat to freedom of navigation.” The Special Envoy repeated his call on Ansar Allah to “cease its attacks inside Yemen and across the border into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to cease attacks and threats against commercial vessels.” Grundberg reiterated, “this renewed war should alarm us all. It effectively marks the end of the relative calm that Yemen has experienced for over four years since the UN-brokered truce.” “It not only threatens to plunge Yemen into a prolonged and expanding war, but also risks yet again dragging the country into the wider and unresolved regional confrontation, with global repercussions,” the Special Envoy said. He said, “the question before the international community is no longer whether Yemen's war will resume, but how to address a new and more dangerous phase - one whose consequences, if left unchecked, will not stay within Yemen's borders.” “That is why the unity and sustained engagement of this Council matter now more than at any point in years,” the Special Envoy underscored, adding “Yemen cannot be allowed to slip from the Council's attention. It needs the active investment of every member of this body to contain what could be the precipice of a far more dangerous conflict.”


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