Leaders of a Saudi-led coalition announced on Tuesday the launch of an extensive air campaign involving around 100 fighter jets targeting Iran-aligned Houthi forces along Yemen’s Red Sea coast and in the capital, Sana’a. The coalition, which supports Yemen’s internationally recognized government, aims to regain control over strategic areas that the Houthis have recently captured.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, a spokesperson for the coalition, stated that the airstrikes have secured air superiority over the Bab al-Mandab Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi military targets. He also reported that large numbers of Houthi fighters are encircled in the Dhubab district, near the Bab al-Mandab, with some militants reportedly fleeing the area by boat across the Red Sea.
In conjunction with the aerial offensive, ground forces allied with the government, including the UAE-backed Giants Brigades, initiated an advance on the eastern flank of the coastline previously seized by Houthi forces. The Giants Brigades claim to have severed the road connecting Mocha and Dhubab and assert that Houthi fighters are retreating from the port city of Mocha, while civilian residents have largely stayed indoors.
President Rashad al-Alimi of the Saudi-supported Yemeni government declared the opening of a decisive new phase against the Houthis on Sunday, emphasizing that patience had been exhausted. Airstrikes were documented in Sana’a and northern strongholds such as Saada, targeting Houthi command centers, training camps, and weapons stockpiles.
The Houthis, who have held Sana’a since 2014, recently expanded their control along Yemen’s west coast, including strategic positions on islands near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical maritime chokepoint. In response to coalition claims of retreat, Houthi sources denied any withdrawal, pointing instead to recent attacks on a Saudi Aramco facility in Riyadh as evidence of their continued operational capacity to disrupt Saudi infrastructure and impact global oil markets.
The reported offensive appears to follow an agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, facilitating coordination between UAE-backed Giants Brigades and the Saudi air force. The Giants Brigades, linked to the Southern Transitional Council—which was declared illegal by the Yemeni government for pursuing secession—emphasized that they were the sole ground force involved, suggesting that political arrangements regarding Yemen’s future may have been necessary for their participation.
Leaders from Pakistan, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia convened in Riyadh to discuss defense cooperation aimed at shielding Saudi Arabia from Houthi attacks. The three countries have established a joint defense pact, although details of its operational framework remain undisclosed.