Yemen's president calls on his people to mobilise against Iran-backed Houthis

The head of Yemen's governing body on Friday called for a general mobilisation to counter the Iran-backed Houthis, as the group ramps up attacks on government forces and their Saudi backer.

His call comes weeks after Yemen's fragmented government was dealt a major blow by the Houthis, who seized control of the country's entire Red Sea coast and are still fighting its forces in Yemen and attacking Saudi ships and territory.

"I call upon the sons of our great people to engage in general mobilisation and national mobilisation, to rally around their armed and security forces," Rashid al-Alimi, who heads the Presidential Leadership Council and is also Supreme Commander of the Yemeni Armed Forces, said in a speech.

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Anyone defecting from the Houthis to the government side will be pardoned in an upcoming amnesty, he added.

Alimi heads Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, whose forces are fighting the Houthis with air support from the kingdom.

Over the week-end, the Houthis attacked Riyadh for the first time in years, marking a major escalation.

Earlier on Friday, the military chiefs of staff of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan held talks on how to support Riyadh as Yemen's Houthis ramp up attacks on the world's top crude exporter.

Yemen and its Saudi backer have been seeking international help to counter the Houthis, with a source from Alimi's office telling AFP earlier this week that he requested American support in a call with US President Donald Trump against the Iran-backed Houthis. But Trump did not promise military help.

The New York Times said the crown prince called Trump on Sunday "to implore him, again" to help counter the group's advances, and Axios has previously said that Trump rebuffed a similar request last week.

The Iran-backed group has escalated its attacks on the government's Saudi backer since July, ending a years-long truce and declaring a maritime blockade, hitting Saudi targets and seizing Yemen's entire Red Sea coast as they seek to stifle Saudi oil exports.

Yemen's civil war began after the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, with a Saudi-led coalition stepping in the following year to shore up the government. 

The Houthis now control much of the north, Yemen's most populated areas, while the government was exiled to Aden, its self-proclaimed temporary capital.