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Yemeni Forces Strike Houthi Targets Amid Intensifying Conflict

5:13 AM ETConfirmed

World Desk

In Short: Yemeni forces conducted airstrikes against Houthi targets in Saada, according to Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and DD India (India).

Yemeni forces conducted airstrikes against Houthi targets in Saada, according to Arabnews (Saudi Arabia) and DD India (India). The strikes reportedly targeted Houthi military reinforcements in the Tur Al-Baha front and Taiz axis.

Majed Al-Nazili, a Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman, said the operations killed or neutralized 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled 44 military vehicles and supply and transport vehicles.

The Yemeni Armed Forces also reported earlier this week that they conducted a “high-value targeting operation” in Sanaa and struck 11 targets in Saada.

According to Al Masirah TV, a Houthi-run channel, the Yemeni forces were targeting vital Houthi targets in Sanaa and Saada.

The conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and forces aligned with the Saudi-backed government intensified this year after the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and began attacking Saudi territory and shipping.

Houthi forces also made major territorial gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast, prompting Saudi Arabia to respond with air strikes and backing government forces fighting to repel the Houthis.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed that a locally made munition was used to target a Saudi F-15 fighter jet over Marib province, while accusing Saudi Arabia of launching 450 strikes.

Saree said the jet had been targeted using a locally made air-to-air missile and that their operations target Saudi oil facilities and military bases.

The Saudi-led coalition, however, dismissed the Houthi claims, with coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Malki describing the incident as a “hostile and terrorist act.”

Al-Malki said the security of the Two Holy Mosques and the pilgrims is a “red line” and that the coalition will take necessary and deterrent measures against the Houthi movement.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly planning an offensive against Yemen's Houthi rebels to reverse their seizure of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with Turkish drones and Pakistani military equipment already in use in Yemen.

The operation, expected in the coming weeks, would be led by Yemeni ground forces overseen by Riyadh and backed by Saudi airstrikes.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• According to the spokesman, the operations killed or otherwise neutralized 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed or disabled 44 military vehicles and supply and transport vehicles.
• Yemen's armed forces said early on Sunday it was conducting strikes against the Houthis in the capital Sanaa and the group's stronghold Saada.
• A spokesperson for Yemen's armed forces, which are aligned with the internationally recognised government, said forces were targeting what he described as "vital targets", without providing further details.
• Yemen's Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported earlier an attack it said was carried out by Saudi Arabia on Sanaa.
• Hostilities resumed this year after the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in July and began attacking Saudi territory and shipping, while Houthi forces also made major territorial gains along Yemen's Red Sea coast.
• The conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and forces aligned with the Saudi-backed government mostly stopped after a 2022 truce, but fighting has broken out again in a spillover from the wider war between Iran and the United States.
• Saudi Arabia has responded with air strikes in Yemen and backed government forces fighting to repel the Houthis.

What's still developing

• Riyadh has concluded it cannot enter new peace talks while the Houthis control the strait, Western diplomats and a Gulf official said.
• The Saudis are considering either a narrow attack around Bab el-Mandeb or a broader offensive with synchronized attacks across the governorates of al-Bayda, Marib, Taiz and al-Jawf, Gulf and Yemeni officials said.
• "Many anti-Houthi forces are still not organised or prepared for the kind of sustained offensive required to push back a disciplined Houthi military force," said Yemen analyst Mohammed Albasha, who spoke to Reuters.
• He added that the Houthis are seeking to divert attention from the huge losses that they are suffering.
• Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Friday reached the strategic island of Perim in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, four Yemeni government sources told Reuters, potentially tightening their grip on one of the world's vital shipping routes and further increasing the threat to energy markets in the widening Middle East war.
• Earlier, two sources from the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised Yemeni government said its forces had withdrawn from Perim and that the Houthis had also taken the mainland Red Sea coastal town of Dhubab, which faces the island.
• They announced they would deploy weapons and aircraft to eliminate any movement of the "terrorist" Houthi militias in strategic areas, including the road leading to the coastal city of Mocha, which the militant group captured on Thursday along with the Red Sea islands of Hanish.

Sources

• Arabnewslink
• DD Indialink
• Marinelinklink
• Middle East Eyelink
• thenationalnews.comlink
• Indiatvnewslink
• Turkiyetodaylink
• Siasatlink
• Al Jazeeralink
• Independentlink
• Fxstreetlink
• Tdtnewslink
• Tbsnewslink
• Bolnewslink
• Thediplomaticinsightlink
• WarpBeat — background on Yemeni Forces Strike Houthi Targets in Saada link
• Firstpost — video link