Yemen leader announces major military operations against Iran-backed Houthis

By Mohammed Ghobari, Timour Azhari and Eman Abouhassira The leader of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government announced the beginning of a major military operation against the Iran-backed Houthis on Sunday, aimed at seizing the territory under their control. Regional and western officials had told Reuters earlier this week that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were planning to launch an assault on the Houthis, with the Saudis leading aerial combat and Yemeni forces fighting on the ground. “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 the entire national territory,” Yemeni President Rashad al-Alimi said in a televised address.

The Houthis, meanwhile, said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco sites in Riyadh and the Khurais area of Saudi Arabia, claiming the attacks caused major fires, in response to what they said were 50 Saudi-led air and missile strikes on Yemen in the past 12 hours. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabia. ‘Opportunities for de-escalation exhausted’ Al-Alimi said the decision to launch the counteroffensive came after all opportunities for de-escalation had been exhausted, accusing the Houthis of responding to efforts to calm the conflict with further mobilisation and escalation. “Our position today is to assume the national responsibility of confronting the Houthi militia, after all opportunities for de-escalation have been exhausted,” he said. Al-Alimi said he had ordered the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned tasks under approved plans. Saudi Arabia entered neighbouring Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition in…