The UN special envoy for Yemen warned the Security Council on Friday that the country has returned to all-out conflict, with fighting spreading across several fronts and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia threatening to deepen regional instability.
“In the past few weeks, Yemen has slid back into full-scale war, with hostilities spreading across multiple front lines,” UN envoy Hans Grundberg told the 15-member council.
The Iran-backed Houthis had earlier advanced towards Mokha and the coast along the strategic Bab Al Mandeb strait, while Yemen's internationally recognised government said it had recaptured territory nearby in a counteroffensive launched this week.
The conflict has increasingly spilt into Saudi Arabia. Three Saudi citizens, including an airline pilot, were killed in attacks on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport and a Saudi aircraft on Thursday, Saudi authorities said. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks on the airport.
Mr Grundberg condemned Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian and energy infrastructure, including Abha International Airport and King Khalid International Airport. He also warned that threats against Saudi-linked commercial vessels in the Red Sea risked further destabilising international shipping and energy markets.
“These threats are becoming enmeshed with the broader confrontation over control of maritime trade routes and the stresses on the international energy market,” he said.
According to the UN, more than 200,000 people have been displaced across Yemen since the beginning of August, the highest level of new displacement since the 2022 truce. In addition, nearly 4,000 people have fled across the Bab Al Mandeb strait to seek safety in Djibouti and Somalia.
Despite escalating hostilities, Mr Grundberg urged the warring parties to pursue negotiations. “Unless war is to become Yemen's permanent reality, the time to consider political strategies is now,” he noted.
