Yemen’s Saudi-backed government on Sunday announced the start of a major military operation aimed at retaking territory controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi movement, as fighting intensified across the country.
President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address that the operation would seek to restore government control and extend state authority across Yemen.
“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 all national soil,” Al-Alimi said.
The announcement came as the Houthis reported that a Saudi-led airstrike hit a sponge factory in Shamlan, on the western outskirts of the capital Sanaa, injuring three people. The claim was made by the Houthi-run ministry and has not been independently verified.
The Houthis also said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco facilities in Riyadh and the Khurais area, claiming the attacks caused major fires. The group said the strikes were in retaliation for what it described as 50 Saudi-led air and missile attacks on Yemen over the previous 12 hours. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabia.
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Regional and Western officials had told Reuters earlier this week that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were preparing an assault on Houthi-held territory, with Saudi forces expected to provide air support while Yemeni forces conduct ground operations.
Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition supporting the internationally recognised government, after the Houthis seized Sanaa and drove the government from the capital.
A truce agreed in 2022 largely held for several years, but tensions have escalated this year amid wider regional conflict, with the Houthis carrying out missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure.
The latest escalation has also involved claims and counterclaims over attacks on religiously significant sites in Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday, the Saudi-led coalition accused the Houthis of targeting the Taibah power distribution station in Medina, which supplies electricity to the Prophet’s Mosque. Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Maliki said the attack occurred at 5:11 am on Tuesday, putting the station out of service while leaving the wider power grid unaffected.
The coalition said an investigation and evidence, including remnants of a drone, showed that the Houthis were responsible. The Houthis denied the accusation, with a military source quoted by Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency saying the group reserved the right to respond.
Saudi Arabia had also accused the Houthis in September of carrying out a drone attack targeting Mecca. The Houthis rejected that allegation as well.
Saudi officials have described the alleged attacks on religious sites as attempts to provoke a wider regional conflict. Analysts and former Saudi officials have similarly condemned any targeting of civilian infrastructure or holy sites.
The latest military operation marks a major escalation in Yemen’s long-running conflict and comes against the backdrop of a wider regional confrontation involving Saudi Arabia, Iran and their respective allies.
(With agency inputs from Reuters)
