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The Saudi-led coalition said Sunday that it had carried out a military operation to “neutralize vital resources” the Houthi group uses to sustain its war effort, with a focus on ballistic missiles and drones, but it did not say where the strikes took place or what was hit.
Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said in a written statement that the operation was carried out Sunday morning. He tied it to continued Houthi attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis did not immediately comment.
Al-Maliki said the coalition’s joint forces command had observed the Houthis’ “continued use of vital resources to support their war effort and bolster their military capabilities, especially ballistic missiles and drones.” He said the attacks posed a direct threat to civilian lives and the safety of civilian infrastructure.
The operation aimed to curb the group’s ability to carry out repeated attacks, he said. He described those attacks as a threat to the security of Saudi Arabia and Yemen and to shipping lanes in the southern Red Sea.
The statement did not identify the targeted locations or describe the nature of the “vital resources” it said had been neutralized. It also gave no information on casualties or material damage, and the claims could not be independently verified.
The announcement comes as Yemen’s internationally recognized government and the Houthis are locked in renewed fighting. Yemeni government forces launched an offensive called Operation “Dawn of Yemen” on Oct. 5, aiming to restore state institutions in areas under Houthi control and retake the capital, Sanaa.
Military escalation resumed in July, ending a period of relative calm that had held since April 2022. According to UN reports, it has killed and wounded thousands of people and displaced more than a quarter of a million. The humanitarian crisis has worsened as fighting and displacement continue.
Clashes also intensified last month when Houthi forces pushed from Hodeidah province on the Red Sea coast toward Taiz province, advancing toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Fighting continues in mountainous Taiz and other areas.
Yemen has been at war since the Iran-backed Houthis seized Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government. The Houthis still control the capital and parts of the country.
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