The Saudi-led Coalition Supporting Yemen’s Legitimacy pledged its full support on Sunday, after Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced the launch of a major military offensive aimed at rolling back the recent expansion of the Iranian-backed Houthis.
Last month, the Iranian-backed Houthis carried out a blitzkrieg attack on the Red Sea coast, successfully seizing key ports and putting further pressure on international shipping security.
Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen’s Presidential Council, said in a televised address on Sunday that the military operation was aimed at retaking the remaining territory held by the Houthis and restoring state power across the country.
The attack was widely expected as Saudi Arabia carried out dozens of airstrikes on Houthi strongholds and the group gained further strength in southern Yemen.
The renewed fighting has already forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, and what happens next could shift the balance of power in Yemen and worsen an already bleak humanitarian crisis. The World Food Program said last week that three out of four households in some parts of Yemen are going hungry due to intensified fighting.
Al Alimi said the decision to launch the operation followed “the continued mobilization, escalation and attacks by the Houthi militia, as well as threats against civilians, facilities, neighboring countries and international shipping lanes.”
Chairman of Yemeni Presidential Council announces military attack
Military spokesman Majd al-Nuzairi said in a separate statement that government forces had launched a “fight for liberation” aimed at ending Houthi control over the remaining territory and restoring state institutions.
Al Nuzairi also called on Houthi-aligned fighters to lay down their weapons and return to their homes, saying the government remained committed to protecting civilians during the offensive.
Saudi-led coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said it would continue to provide “full operational support” to Yemeni government forces in what it called efforts to restore state institutions and end the “Houthi coup.”
Mr al-Maliki also accused the Houthis of continuing attacks on Saudi Arabia and international shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
“Such threats undermine regional and international security and endanger freedom of navigation and international trade, the lifeblood of the global economy,” it added.
Yemen’s Houthi-controlled military said Sunday that Saudi Arabia had carried out 106 airstrikes and missile attacks targeting the capital Sanaa and other parts of the country in the past 24 hours.
The Houthi statement did not provide details on casualties or damage from the reported attacks.
In retaliation for airstrikes on Sanaa and other locations, the Houthis on Sunday claimed to have attacked key Saudi energy facilities.
A statement from the Houthi forces said: “The first target was an Aramco company in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second was an Aramco company in the Khurais region,” with large fires breaking out at the targeted locations.
There has been no announcement from the Saudi side about the alleged attack.
In early September, the Houthis captured a swath of Yemen’s Red Sea coast south of the important Bab al-Mandeb waterway, a key point for commercial shipping into the Indian Ocean.
They announced that Saudi shipping attempting to use the strait could be targeted, putting further pressure on global trade and energy routes.
Since late July, the Houthis have fired ballistic missiles and drones at multiple targets, including Saudi Arabia’s industrial and energy infrastructure.
Much of the recent fighting has occurred in the southern Taiz region, where the Houthis aim to cut off government forces in the region’s capital. The Houthis claimed on Sunday that they had crossed a key highway linking Taiz with Aden, the seat of Yemen’s government.
Taiz is Yemen’s third largest city, with a population of several hundred thousand people. It is also home to thousands of government troops.
Further east, in the al-Jawf region, the Houthis on Sunday claimed heavy casualties with a barrage of missiles and drone fire against government forces as they redeployed in a new offensive.
Yemeni government forces began fighting the Houthis more than a decade ago, with support from Saudi airstrikes and a blockade of Houthi areas.
On Monday, Saudi officials will meet with Turkish and Pakistani officials in Riyadh to discuss regional developments.
The conference is part of the Strategic and Political Defense Committee, a NATO-style defense agreement established in August that works to organize security and military cooperation in the region. The Saudi Foreign Ministry said this was “not an attempt to establish a military axis or sectarian bloc.”
According to the United Nations, the war in Yemen, which began in March 2015, has killed 377,000 people by the end of 2021, including those from direct and indirect causes. The report says more than 150,000 of these people died as a direct result of the armed conflict, and many more died from hunger and disease due to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war.
A UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022 led to a period of relatively low-level hostilities between the two countries until violence flared up again in August.
This story has been updated.
