Yemen Announces Nationwide Military Operation against Houthis

Rashad Al-Alimi, Chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, has formally announced the launch of a nationwide military operation aimed at retaking the remaining areas under Houthi control and restoring the authority of state institutions. In a televised address to the nation, he said the military campaign against the Houthis was being launched after all opportunities to de-escalate tensions and resolve the conflict peacefully had been exhausted.

According to foreign media reports and available information, fears of a renewed full-scale war in Yemen have intensified following heavy fighting and airstrikes in the capital, Sanaa, and the country’s third-largest city, Taiz. Yemeni government forces said heavy clashes took place on several fronts around Taiz the previous day, while reports also emerged that Houthi fighters had captured three villages. According to television outlets controlled by the Houthi group, heavy airstrikes targeted at least three provinces, including Sanaa and Taiz, with the Saudi-led military coalition blamed for the attacks. Meanwhile, a spokesman for forces supporting the Yemeni government confirmed that key targets in the capital, Sanaa, had been hit.

Citing Arab media, the Yemeni armed forces claimed that 1,540 Houthi fighters had been killed or wounded in military operations and attacks over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition said it had successfully intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched toward southern Saudi Arabia. The chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council called on civilians living in Houthi-controlled areas to fully cooperate with the Yemeni armed forces. He pledged that reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts would begin immediately in any city liberated from Houthi control by government forces. Addressing Houthi fighters directly, he said anyone who surrendered their weapons would be guaranteed safe return and a full amnesty.