Why has the Yemen government called for a general mobilisation?

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has called for a general mobilisation of the population as part of its long-anticipated pushback against the Houthis.

In his first speech since government forces were routed from the Red Sea coast, Rashad al-Alimi, head of the ruling Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, made a national call to arms and asked citizens to “contribute in every way possible” in the fight against the Houthis.

Al-Alimi also offered an amnesty to defecting Houthi fighters, effective immediately.

It comes as the Houthis made dramatic advances in western Yemen in September, including capturing the city of Mocha and Mayyun Island. The assault follows the recent collapse of a 2022 government and Houthi truce, which had paused 12 years of fighting between the two sides.

The Houthis’ Red Sea offensive has given them control over Bab al-Mandeb strait, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, a narrow waterway linking the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.

The strait is also of crucial economic and strategic importance to Saudi Arabia, which backs the internationally recognised government.

Through the mobilisation of the general population, al-Alimi pledged to recapture Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, which it lost to the Houthis in 2014, and restore government sovereignty over the whole of Yemen.

“Our objective is clear to everyone both at home and abroad: to restore state institutions and exercise their sovereignty over the entire country, including Sanaa,” al-Alimi said.

So, why has the government decided to call for a general mobilisation now and why has the government offered Houthi fighters an amnesty? Here’s what we know.

Why has al-Alimi ordered a general mobilisation?

In the eyes of most analysts, the government’s position has rarely been weaker. Pushed out of Mocha, Mayyun Island and the wider Bab al-Mandeb coastline, the Houthi advance jeopardises the authority of the internationally recognised government and brings its Saudi ally deeper into the conflict. Riyadh and other Saudi cities have now become regular targets of Houthi rockets and drones.

Even the government’s rare victories have proven short-lived. Hays district in al-Hodeidah was briefly taken by government forces in early September before falling again to the Houthis just days later.

Ahmed al-Shalafi, Al Jazeera Arabic’s Yemen affairs editor, described al-Alimi’s comments as a “war speech”, calling for Yemenis to join the military’s ranks and take part in the liberation of Houthi-held Sanaa.

Government forces currently remain bogged down in fighting in Taiz and Marib, far from the capital.

How significant is the offer of amnesty?

In 2024, before the current lightning advance, a United Nations panel of experts estimated that Houthi fighters numbered somewhere around 350,000, bolstered by the recruitment of fighters sometimes aged under 18.

It is unlikely that these fighters will defect to the government side any time soon, analysts have said, but the offer of amnesty might grow more attractive if the Houthis begin to lose ground.

“You need to remember that, despite everything, Yemen remains a tribal society,” Baraa Shiban, a researcher and political analyst on Yemen and the Gulf at the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI), said. “The offer of amnesty is the government signalling that it won’t be seeking revenge upon fighters in a way that could risk the conflict descending into tribal warfare.”

How will Saudi Arabia respond?

Saudi Arabia has a lot to lose. In the last 24 hours, Riyadh claimed to have intercepted six Houthi ballistic missiles targeting the Yanbu area on the Red Sea and Taif, to the country’s West.

The potential for further strikes upon Saudi Arabia threatens Riyadh’s ability to export oil through the Red Sea.

Saudi Arabia’s west coast has gained greater significance since the US and Israel launched a war on Iran on February 28, with Tehran responding by closing the Strait of Hormuz, blocking access by sea to the kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province.

The brief closure of Saudi Arabia’s East-West Crude Oil Pipeline following an attack on three pumping stations earlier this month has also exposed vulnerabilities for Riyadh.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan – who signed their Mecca Joint Defence Agreement in August – announced that an emergency meeting of military chiefs would be held to address the threat.

However, what level of intervention the three countries might take in Yemen, if any, remained far from certain.

“Even at the peak of the fighting [before the 2022 ceasefire], Saudi only deployed very limited ground forces in support of the government, preferring to rely on air strikes instead,” Shiban said.

“I really can’t imagine Yemeni citizens reacting all that well to the sight of armed Turkish, Pakistani and Saudi forces on their soil, which could even risk taking the conflict in a very different direction.

“I would be surprised if their [Turkiye and Pakistan] involvement did extend beyond technical support and intelligence sharing.”

Are other countries affected?

The Houthis have said they would keep Bab al-Mandeb open and indicated that any attacks would be limited to Saudi vessels. However, addressing the United Nations General Assembly last week, the vice-president of Yemen’s internationally recognised government council, Abdullah Abdulkader Al Alimi-Bawzer, said the rebels were not to be trusted.

“The Houthi militias’ use of the safety of navigation as a tool for blackmail threatens not only Yemen. It is taking hostage the entire global economy,” he told world leaders in New York on Thursday.

Protecting the strait “is the responsibility of every economy that depends on secure supply chains, energy security and freedom of navigation,” Alimi-Bawzer said.

Saudi Arabia has announced a naval coalition for the Red Sea, but details of the scale and scope of the armada remain largely unknown.

The Houthis, meanwhile, have reportedly sent a letter to the European Union promising that ships linked to the bloc would not be targeted, in an apparent attempt to isolate Saudi Arabia from its allies.