The Saudi-backed and internationally recognized Yemeni government has launched a major military offensive to retake areas held by the Iran-backed Houthis. Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi announced this in a televised address on Sunday, stating that government forces would continue the operation until the country is liberated from the grip of the “terrorist militia.” Subsequently, a military spokesperson called on the Houthis to surrender their weapons. Reuters reported the news.
The Houthis, officially known as “Ansar Allah,” have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and vast areas of the country’s northwest—where the majority of the population resides—since 2014. They have managed to survive years of sustained attacks by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and their Western allies, while also modernizing their arsenal with Iranian assistance. Last month, the Houthis launched a surprise offensive.
Within weeks, they seized the strategically vital Bab al-Mandab Strait and approximately 150 kilometers of the Red Sea coastline, further increasing their influence over this international shipping lane. This advance opened a new front in the broader US-Israel conflict with Iran that began in February; Tehran’s countermeasures in that conflict included effectively disrupting oil transport through the Strait of Hormuz on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.
As the Yemeni government—known as the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC)—announced the offensive, the Houthis claimed to have launched ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi Aramco facilities in Riyadh and Khurais. They claimed the attacks caused massive fires. Meanwhile, Saudi-led forces carried out 50 airstrikes and missile attacks in Yemen over a 12-hour period. The Houthis stated that they carried out these attacks in response to such demands.
