Yemen: Fighting intensifies amid Houthi push in the west

Both sides in Yemen 's long-running civil war have sustained losses in a new push from the Houthi militia to try to seize control of the gateway to the Red Sea in the west.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the country, launched a ground offensive against the Saudi Arabia -led coalition supporting Yemen's government-in-exile on Thursday.

No casualty numbers were formally announced but news agencies citing sources off the record concurred that both sides had sustained dozens of losses, as well as civilians who were killed amid the fighting. The AFP news agency tallied 129 deaths as of Friday.

Officials also reported shelling and artillery fire forcing hundreds of families to flee from a pair of coastal cities, Hodeidah and Mokha, one held by either side in the conflict.

Yemen has been in a state of civil war for almost exactly 12 years, and a period of comparative calm broke down this July amid the war with Iran in the Gulf .

The Houthis are targeting ports and elevated terrain held by Saudi-led forces that would improve their control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where the Red Sea meets the Gulf of Aden, leading out into the Arabian Sea and open waters.

Always a crucial waterway, its significance has increased amid the restrictions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video