American official: Life with the Houthis is “an injustice upon injustice”

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The Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Yemen, Neil Hope, confirmed the displacement of more than 200,000 Yemenis since last September, considering that life under the control of the Houthis is "injustice upon injustice."

Hope said, in a video recording published by the US Embassy on Wednesday, that “no one wants to leave their home to live in a camp for the displaced, and yet more than 200,000 Yemenis have been forced to flee since September.”

He also added that the displaced are not heading to the areas controlled by the Houthis, but are fleeing away from them. He continued: "The Yemenis know the truth. Life under the control of the Houthis is not life, but injustice within injustice."

This came at a time when the Yemeni government forces announced tightening their control over the mountainous Kahboub front overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in the latest field progress within the military operation “Yemen’s Dawn,” which was announced by the head of the Yemeni Presidential Command Council, Rashad al-Alimi, to restore areas under the control of the Houthi militia and extend state authority over the entire Yemeni territory.

The Homeland Shield Forces said in a statement that their forces, in cooperation with the Giants Brigades and the Joint Forces, had tightened control over the front. Note that Kahboub is administratively located in the Lahj Governorate in southern Yemen, and includes mountainous heights of military importance due to its supervision of the areas near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which allows monitoring the axes of movement towards the Strait and the western coast.

The United States has previously confirmed its support for the current military operations, as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described what is happening in Yemen as a “counterattack” against the Houthi attacks, explaining that the Yemeni government forces are trying to regain areas controlled by the Houthis during their attack.

Rubio said that what is happening is a "response" to the Houthis' control of those areas, adding that Washington had expected such a move to occur. He stressed that the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia will not accept Houthi control near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, noting the existence of security agreements and commitments between Washington and Riyadh, and stressing that the United States will fulfill them.

The importance of the recent developments is focused on the areas overlooking Bab al-Mandab, one of the most important international sea lanes, as government forces seek to consolidate their positions on the western coast and cut off supply lines linked to areas under Houthi control, in conjunction with the continuation of Operation “Yemen Dawn.”