Yemeni government launches offensive to seize all areas from Iran-backed Houthis

Yemen’s Saudi-backed, internationally recognized government said on Sunday it was launching a major military campaign to recapture all areas of the country controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis . The government’s armed forces would press the offensive “until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist militia,” Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address. A military spokesman later called on the Houthis to lay down their weapons. The Houthis, known formally as Ansar Allah, have held Yemen’s capital Sanaa and vast parts of the northwest, where most of the…