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Yemen’s presidential council chief Rashad al-Alimi announced Sunday the launch of comprehensive military operations on all fronts to retake territory held by Iran-backed Houthi fighters.
“I announce today the start of military operations to retake the remaining territories of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory,” al-Alimi said in a statement.
The announcement came as Yemen’s army said 260 Houthi fighters had been killed in 97 operations targeting military reinforcements on fronts in Taiz and Lahj provinces.
Military spokesman Col. Majed al-Nuzaili said the operations involved warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers.
He said 44 military vehicles, transport vehicles and supply assets were destroyed or damaged.
The announcement came hours after the army said at least 700 Houthi fighters had been killed in 257 operations on several fronts.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis on the army’s claims.
The escalation came as Yemen’s Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with Aden, the interim capital of the internationally recognized government, according to four security sources.
The Houthi advance followed days of heavy fighting in and around Taiz between the group and government forces.
“We were informed that the Houthis had taken control of the al-Safiya area, where they cut the main road and took control of the police station,” a police source in the area told AFP.
Three Yemeni military sources also confirmed Houthi control over the area and the supply route, effectively encircling Taiz city.
The military sources said the Houthis had also halted traffic on the main road linking Taiz to Aden, with fighting in the area continuing.
Taiz itself remains under the control of government forces but has long been besieged from the north, east and west by Houthi fighters. It remains one of the main fronts in Yemen’s civil war.
“They’ve achieved the military objective of isolating Taiz from Aden, even if they haven’t fully taken control of it,” Farea al-Muslimi, a research fellow at the Chatham House think tank, told AFP.
Elsewhere in Yemen, the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV channel reported Saudi strikes in the northern governorates of al-Jawf and Saada, saying at least two people had been wounded.
The reported strikes came a day after Yemen’s government said its forces hit Houthi targets across the country, including in the capital Sanaa, Saada and Houthi positions near Taiz.
Yemen’s government has limited air capabilities, and since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government, Saudi forces have carried out most airstrikes against the Houthis.
Experts believe the recent operations were most likely conducted by Saudi warplanes rather than Yemen’s air force.
Yemen has been mired in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and several provinces in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.
A 2022 truce collapsed in July, and fighting has since escalated.
After several years of relative calm, Yemen’s war reignited against the backdrop of the widening Middle East war.
Fighting intensified in September as the Houthis launched a lightning offensive that saw them seize Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast, including the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a vital shipping lane.
The Houthis have also launched a blockade on Saudi energy exports, already squeezed by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The escalation comes after the Saudi-led coalition last week blamed the Houthis for a drone attack on an electricity distribution station in the holy city of Medina.
The facility provides power to the Prophet’s Mosque, the coalition said. The attack knocked one transformer out of service but did not affect the wider electricity grid.
The Houthis denied involvement in the attack.
Yemen remains one of the world’s poorest countries and continues to face a severe humanitarian crisis.
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