Yemen leader announces major military operations against Houthis

Yemen leader announces major military operations against Houthis

The leader of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government announced the beginning of a major military operation against the Houthis on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control. 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. “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. 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. 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. Yemen forces say struck Houthi targets in several areas Yemen’s government forces said on Sunday they had struck Houthi targets around the country, deepening the conflict ravaging one of the world’s poorest nations and the wider region. The armed forces launched strikes against the Houthis in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate of Saada — one of the group’s strongholds — and Taiz in the southwest, military spokesman Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili said. Yemen was plunged back into civil war in July after years of calm, pitting the Houthis, who control most of northwest Yemen including Sanaa, against Yemen’s internationally recognised Saudi-backed government. The government, based in the city of Aden, controls much of the country’s south and east — a region that is larger but much less populated. The strikes came hours after the Houthis claimed an attack on an oil facility near the Saudi capital, where an AFP journalist saw flames and smoke, and accused the Gulf kingdom of striking Sanaa dozens of times. The foes have traded strikes since the Houthis seized all of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and took control of the Bab al-Mandab strait in a lightning offensive last month. Houthi-affiliated channel Al-Masirah TV reported that “Saudi enemy aircraft” hit Sanaa with 26 strikes, after earlier reporting “Saudi aggression” against the Yemeni capital, without providing details on the targets or casualties. Two correspondents in Sanaa reported hearing loud explosions and seeing warplanes firing missiles at the city. In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, flames and smoke were seen rising on Saturday afternoon from an Aramco facility south of Riyadh, an AFP journalist said. While the Saudi authorities are yet to comment, late on Saturday, the Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had targeted an oil facility in Riyadh with ballistic missiles and drones, adding that they sparked fires at the targeted sites. The AFP journalist reported seeing firefighters scrambling to extinguish a blaze at Aramco’s Riyadh refinery, located south of the capital, while ambulances and police vehicles were stationed near the facility. The Houthis’ Al-Masirah channel also reported missile strikes earlier on Saturday on the telecommunications network in Saada. The Houthis said Saudi Arabia bombed the Yemeni capital on Thursday night for the first time since renewed fighting broke out between the two sides in July. Hunger warning Hostilities between the Houthis and Yemen’s government had reignited after four years of a fragile truce when Iran sent a plane to Sanaa carrying a Houthi delegation. The flight did not seek authorisation from Saudi Arabia, contravening a practice in place for a decade. Riyadh retaliated with strikes on Sanaa airport, and in response the Houthis attacked Saudi territory for the first time since 2022. Since then, fighting has intensified with the Houthis launching a lightning offensive in which they seized control of coastal regions along the Bab al-Mandab strait. They have also struck multiple Saudi targets including oil infrastructure and the capital Riyadh while also announcing a naval blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. The renewed fighting has worsened a humanitarian crisis sweeping Yemen, with the World Food Programme warning on Friday that three-quarters of the population was unable to meet its basic food needs. Battle for Taiz Fighting in recent days has centred on Taiz, where dozens of combatants were reported killed on Friday. The Houthis reported 55 of their fighters had been killed, while government sources told AFP that 26 troops had died. The battle for Taiz is taking place on several fronts, including highlands overlooking coastal areas recently seized by the Houthis. While the Houthis have conquered swathes of territory, they have yet to take control of Taiz city, Yemen’s third-largest after Sanaa and Aden. The Houthis also said on Friday that Saudi Arabia had launched 94 strikes against areas under their control in the past 24 hours. Saudi authorities reported a Houthi projectile had damaged a school in the city of Najran near the Yemen border. Riyadh has reportedly requested help from the United States, a call so far rebuffed by US President Donald Trump.