Yemen government begins nationwide offensive against Houthis

Yemen’s internationally recognised government has ordered its armed forces into a nationwide campaign to retake Houthi-held territory, marking a sharp expansion of fighting after weeks of escalating confrontation involving the Iran-backed group and Saudi Arabia.

Rashad Al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council and supreme commander of the armed forces, announced the operation on Sunday, saying the government was moving from preparation to action after exhausting opportunities for de-escalation. He said the objective was to restore state authority and institutions across Yemen.

Al-Alimi said the decision followed National Defence Council resolutions and the completion of military preparations. He ordered the armed forces, security services and all military formations to carry out approved plans “until the country is liberated from the grip of the terrorist Houthi militia”.

“All state military, security and civil institutions” would remain mobilised and on high alert until the mission was completed, he said. Al-Alimi also sought to reassure civilians in Houthi-controlled areas, saying the campaign was not directed against a sect, tribe, city or population, but against the group’s armed control.

The announcement formalises a broader offensive after heavy fighting around Taiz and along Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Government-aligned forces have been battling Houthi units near routes linking Taiz with Aden, while Saudi-led forces have intensified strikes against Houthi positions and reinforcements.

Government military spokesman Colonel Majed Abdullah Al-Nazili said forces carried out 257 targeting operations against Houthi sites, movements and military capabilities on Saturday. He put initial Houthi losses at about 700 fighters, a figure that could not be independently verified. The Saudi-led coalition separately said it conducted 97 targeting operations on the Tor Al-Baha front and Taiz axis on Sunday.

The Houthis have also claimed missile and drone attacks on Saudi oil installations, including facilities near Riyadh and at Khurais. The group said the strikes were retaliation for attacks on Yemen. Saudi authorities had not publicly confirmed the Houthis’ account of damage at the facilities, making the scale and effect of the claimed attacks unclear.

The confrontation has intensified since Houthi forces advanced on the western coast in September, seizing strategic positions near the Bab el-Mandeb strait. The waterway links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and is one of the world’s critical maritime trade and energy corridors. Control of territory around it has heightened Saudi and international concern over shipping security.

Al-Alimi said the government’s forces would seek to protect international waterways and called for support from Yemen’s partners and the wider international community. His administration is backed by Saudi Arabia, which leads the coalition supporting forces opposed to the Houthis.

The Houthis, formally known as Ansar Allah, control Sanaa and much of Yemen’s populous north and west. They seized the capital in 2014, forcing the internationally recognised authorities from the city. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year. Large-scale front-line combat later eased substantially under a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022, even after the formal truce period expired.

That relative calm has now broken down. The renewed battles have compounded humanitarian pressures in areas around active fronts, where displacement and disruption to transport routes are affecting access to food and essential supplies. Aid agencies have repeatedly warned that renewed large-scale warfare could deepen Yemen’s severe humanitarian needs.

The government’s declaration also raises the stakes for fragmented anti-Houthi forces operating under the Presidential Leadership Council. Al-Alimi’s order applies to the armed forces, security bodies and military formations aligned with the internationally recognised authorities, indicating an attempt to coordinate multiple forces under a single operational plan.

A military spokesman subsequently urged Houthi fighters to surrender their weapons. Al-Alimi likewise offered assurances of safe return and amnesty to those who disarm, while asking residents in Houthi-held areas to co-operate with government forces.