The Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen was engaged in fierce battles against fighters backed by Saudi Arabia on Sunday, as the group steps up its push to expand its territory, according to local officials.<\/p>\n
The ground fighting is the latest sign of how the war between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis that resumed in July is escalating. On Saturday, the armed group said it had launched missiles and drones at<\/a> Riyadh, the Saudi capital, and at oil facilities, in retaliation for hundreds of Saudi airstrikes and other attacks inside Yemen.<\/p>\n On Sunday, battles were raging in al-Wazi\u2019iyah, al-Madaribah and al-Arah, mountainous territory in the southwest of Yemen, according to Abdul Basit al-Baher, an army officer with the Saudi-backed government. If the Houthis gain control of the areas, they could cut off the city of Taiz from the southern capital of Aden and lay siege to Saudi-backed forces in Taiz, he added.<\/p>\n Fierce battles have also taken place in recent days around Kahboub, a mountainous territory that overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a choke point for international shipping, according to two other Yemeni officials. The waterway became a critical trade route for Saudi Arabia after Iran effectively blockaded the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media.<\/p>\n Saudi officials have not responded to repeated requests for comment on the war. The government has not acknowledged carrying out recent airstrikes in Yemen or responded to a Houthi claim that the group shot down a Saudi fighter jet<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n In a statement about the attack on Riyadh, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesman for a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen, said that it \u201cholds the inherent right to take appropriate measures,\u201d but provided no details.<\/p>\n One question hanging over Saudi Arabia\u2019s deliberations is whether the United States, the kingdom\u2019s most powerful ally, will increase military assistance against the Houthis, or become directly involved.<\/p>\n Saudi officials have been clear that the kingdom does not want to fight the Houthis alone. That is especially true because the earlier, yearslong military campaign<\/a> that Saudi Arabia led against the group turned into a quagmire<\/a>. The conflict damaged the kingdom\u2019s reputation, strained its finances and contributed to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Yemenis from violence, hunger and disease.<\/p>\n