亚丁，10月4日电 - 也门沙特支持的政府领导人周日宣布，开始对伊朗支持的胡塞武装发动大规模军事行动，旨在夺回其控制的领土。
ADEN, Oct 4 - The leader of Yemen's Saudi-backed government announced the beginning of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control.
地区和西方官员此前曾告诉路透社，沙特阿拉伯及其也门盟友计划对胡塞武装发动攻势，由沙特主导空中作战，也门政府军负责地面战斗。
Regional and western officials had previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were planning to launch an assault on the Houthis, with the Saudis leading aerial combat and Yemeni forces fighting on the ground.
也门总统拉沙德·阿利米在电视讲话中说：“今天，我宣布开始军事行动，以收复共和国剩余领土，并将国家权力及其机构的管辖范围延伸至整个国家领土。”
"Today, I announce the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory," Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address.
沙特阿拉伯于2015年率领阿拉伯联盟介入邻国也门的内战，支持国际承认的政府，该政府曾被胡塞武装赶出首都萨那。
Saudi Arabia entered neighbouring Yemen's civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition in support of the internationally recognised government, which the Houthis had driven out of the capital Sanaa.
交战双方于2022年达成的停火协议基本维持到今年，随后胡塞武装发射导弹和无人机袭击沙特航运和石油设施，伊朗冲突外溢所致。
A truce agreed between the warring parties in 2022 largely held until this year, when the Houthis launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure in a spillover from the Iran war.
胡塞武装的闪电攻势 尽管正在为反攻做准备，但胡塞武装迄今仍保持着地面主动权，数周前他们在沿海发动闪电攻势，攻占战略要地曼德海峡，政府军随之崩溃。
HOUTHIS' LIGHTNING OFFENSIVE Despite the preparations for a counteroffensive, the Houthis have so far maintained the initiative on the ground, weeks after seizing the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait in a lightning offensive down the coast that saw government forces collapse.
曼德海峡是红海南部出口通道，是连接地中海和亚洲的关键航运路线，今年因霍尔木兹海峡因伊朗冲突实际上已关闭，其重要性更加凸显。
Bab el-Mandeb is the southern exit passage of the Red Sea, a key shipping route between the Mediterranean and Asia that has assumed even more importance this year as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by the Iran conflict.
军方消息人士称，过去48小时内，胡塞武装在也门泰兹附近的战略制高点上对政府军和地方武装取得进展，正逼近连接该城市与亚丁的最后一条道路，沙特支持的也门政府设在亚丁。
In the last 48 hours, the Houthis have made gains against government and local forces on strategic hilltops near Yemen's Taiz, military sources said, advancing on the last road between the city and Aden, where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government is based.
如果胡塞武装控制了塔伊兹-亚丁公路，将实际上对这座城市实施围困。塔伊兹是也门第三大城市，居住着数十万平民，同时也驻扎着数千名政府军。
Houthi control over the Taiz-Aden road would lead to an effective siege of the city, Yemen's third-largest, inhabited by hundreds of thousands of civilians and where thousands of government forces are also stationed.
据来自塔伊兹的资深也门记者、现任政治分析师穆罕默德·卡迪称，这还将通过夺取塔伊兹西部乡村俯瞰该地区的崎岖山脉，巩固对曼德海峡那片平坦沿海地区的控制。
It would also consolidate control of that flat coastal Bab el-Mandeb area by seizing the rugged mountains overlooking them in the western Taiz countryside, according to Mohammed Al-Qadhi, a veteran Yemeni journalist from Taiz now working as a political analyst.
他说：“这将帮助他们在针对海岸线的任何行动中保护后方，并使收复这些地区变得更加困难。”
"This will help them protect their back in case of any operation against the coastline, and make recapturing those areas much more difficult," he said.
这座城市的重要性不仅在于其战略位置；也门总统拉沙德·阿利米就来自该地区，而对塔伊兹的围困将加剧该国本已严峻的人道主义局势。
The city is important not just for its strategic location; Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi is from the region, and a siege of Taiz would amplify an already-dire humanitarian situation in the country.
世界粮食计划署上周表示，由于战事升级的影响，也门部分地区四分之三的家庭面临饥饿，这场冲突已导致数万人流离失所，并切断了数百万人的物资供应。
Three-in-four families in parts of Yemen are going hungry from the impact of the surge in fighting, which has displaced tens of thousands of people and disrupted supplies to millions, the World Food Programme said last week.