SANAA, AUG 8: The Yemeni military on Saturday said it struck the Iran-backed Houthis on several fronts. The army did not give details of the operations or say when they took place but said it would respond to any further targeting of its units with what it called necessary military measures.
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Yemen’s armed forces spokesperson Colonel Majed al-Nazili said that the operation was launched in response to “repeated and treacherous” Houthi attacks against its personnel and civilians.
He warned of a firm response to any future attacks.
The latest escalation came after the Houthis launched a large-scale attack using ballistic missiles and drones targeting military sites in Marib and Hadramawt, leading to the deaths of 17 military officials, and an unknown number of injured.
The attacks later spread to displacement camps and residential neighborhoods in the city of Marib on Friday, killing two people and wounding 14, state news agency SABA reported, citing local authorities.
The exchanges mark a sharp escalation between the Houthis and forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government after years in which large-scale fighting between the two sides had largely subsided, raising fears of a return to a broader conflict.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said on Friday that the latest attacks in Marib and Hadramawt, together with renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, had left Yemen at its greatest risk of renewed large-scale conflict since the UN-brokered truce in April 2022.
He urged all sides to exercise maximum restraint and engage in UN-led negotiations, warning that the violence risked drawing Yemen deeper into a wider regional confrontation.
