The Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Command Council announces the start of military operations against the Houthis

Yesterday, the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, announced the start of military operations against the Houthi group allied with Iran to restore the remainder of the republic’s lands and extend the authority of the state and its institutions over the entire national territory.

Hours after Al-Alimi’s announcement, the leadership of the “Coalition to Support Legitimacy” confirmed providing full operational support to the Yemeni forces and standing with the legitimate government “until the restoration of the state and its institutions, the elimination of the terrorist Houthi militia, and the end of its threat to freedom of maritime navigation.”

Coalition Forces spokesman, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said in a statement, “The attacks by the terrorist Houthi militia on the Kingdom... require the continuation of necessary and necessary measures to deter the hostile actions of the terrorist Houthi militia with the aim of protecting the security and sovereignty of the Kingdom, as well as regional and international security.”

While Al-Alimi stressed the continuation of operations according to the approved plans “until the mission is accomplished,” this announcement represents an official transition from the stage of preparation and mobilization to open military action, after exhausting opportunities for calm and peace efforts with the Houthi group.

Al-Alimi said, in a speech to the Yemeni people, that all the armed and security forces and military formations received directives to carry out their tasks, stressing that the battle aims to restore state institutions, and is not a war against the residents of areas controlled by the Houthis or against a sect or tribe. He called on residents in Houthi-controlled areas to stay away from military sites, gatherings, and supply routes, and to protect their children from being thrown into combat, reiterating at the same time the state’s commitment to safe return and the declared amnesty for those who abandon their weapons and stop fighting in the ranks of the group.

In a message to the government forces and the resistance, the head of the Command Council stressed that the mission “is not only to restore the land, but to restore the state to it,” calling for the protection of civilians and property and adherence to the law, stressing that there is no room for revenge, retaliation, or assault on innocent people.

Al-Alimi's announcement coincides with the intensification of battles in Taiz Governorate, where the Houthis have intensified their attacks in the southwestern countryside, seeking to cut off the roads linking the city of Taiz to its southern countryside and areas under government control, including Lahj and Aden. The fighting cut off the road between Al-Turbah and the city of Taiz, in a development that threatens to isolate the city from its southern surroundings and the liberated areas, including the city of Aden.

The head of the Yemeni Presidential Command Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, announced on Sunday the start of military operations to restore the remainder of the republic’s lands and extend the authority of the state and its institutions over the entire national territory, in an announcement that represented an official transition from the stage of preparation and mobilization to the stage of open military action.

Al-Alimi said, in a speech to the Yemeni people, that the decision to begin operations was taken after completing the necessary procedures and measures, and based on the decisions of the National Defense Council, stressing that the armed and security forces and all military formations were directed to carry out their tasks according to the approved plans, “until the country is liberated from the burden of the terrorist militia.”

The Chairman of the Leadership Council justified the decision by exhausting opportunities for calm, saying that the state gave peace sufficient time and opportunities, while the Houthi group responded to this with further mobilization, escalation, attacks and threats to civilians, national installations, neighboring countries and international corridors.

He stressed that the declared battle is not a war against the residents of areas controlled by the Houthis, nor against a sect or tribe, but rather “the state’s battle for its citizens and the restoration of its institutions,” stressing that its goal is to end the confiscation of the will of the Yemenis and their political future by force of arms.

Al-Alimi sent a direct message to the residents in Houthi-controlled areas, calling on them to stay away from military sites, gatherings, and supply routes, and to protect their children from being thrown into combat, reiterating at the same time the state’s commitment to a safe return and the declared amnesty for those who abandon their weapons and stop fighting in the ranks of the group.

In a message to the government forces and the resistance, the head of the Command Council stressed that the mission “is not only to restore the land, but to restore the state to it,” calling for the protection of civilians and property and adherence to the law, stressing that there is no room for revenge, retaliation, or assault on innocent people.

Directions to the government

On the civilian side, Al-Alimi announced the government’s directive to prepare an action program synchronized with military operations, so that state institutions begin exercising their responsibilities in the areas that government forces recapture as soon as they go.

The priorities he announced include repaying the salaries of state employees and retroactively treating late entitlements, launching an urgent recovery and reconstruction program, repairing damaged roads, electricity, water, and facilities, and creating conditions for the return of displaced people and the resumption of economic activity.

Al-Alimi said that the success of the battle will not be measured by the number of cities recovered, but rather by the number of citizens to whom security is restored, the families who return to their homes, and the measures that prevent a return to practices of killing, oppression, and confiscating the will of the people.

He also renewed the commitment of the Leadership Council and the government to what the Saudi-sponsored South-South dialogue will lead to, ensuring a just and comprehensive solution to the southern issue, and called on brothers, friends and the international community to support Yemen, its armed forces and national institutions, and to support humanitarian and economic efforts and recovery and reconstruction programmes.

Al-Alimi concluded by announcing that the state’s military, security, and civil institutions would enter a “state of full alert” until the mission is accomplished, stressing that the new phase aims to restore the state to its land and institutions, and return weapons to their “natural place under the authority of the law.”

The Houthi group allied with Iran has pressed with all its weight in the southwestern countryside of the city of Taiz, to control the main roads linking the city to its southern countryside, and to cut off communication lines towards Lahj Governorate and the city of Aden, at a time when government forces, backed by popular resistance, are waging violent battles to stop this progress, in conjunction with air strikes targeting the group’s reinforcements and military capabilities.

This front is gaining special importance, as the Houthis continue to push their groups towards new areas in southern Taiz, amid reports of their control, on Sunday, of the Al-Safiya and Al-Barakani areas, and the cutting of the road linking the city of Al-Turbah, the center of the Al-Shamaytain District in the south, to the city of Taiz in the north, which means isolating the latter from the liberated areas. Where Lahj and Aden.

However, the front is still open to violent confrontations, amid indications of the Houthis’ insistence on maintaining pressure on this axis, which prompted field sources to warn of the danger of continuing attacks and the need for immediate reinforcements of government forces present in the region.

In parallel with these battles in the southwestern countryside, government forces and popular resistance had achieved field gains on a number of Taiz fronts. It regained control over the Al-Makarma and Al-Zakira areas in Al-Shamaytain District, south of the governorate, after violent confrontations with the Houthis, but the Houthis regained control over it again.

Government forces on the southeastern front, with the support of resistance fighters from the Sami District, were also able to control Fort Sami, before advancing to the strategic Mount Al-Jaasha, after tightening control over Mount Fort Sami.

The sources said that these operations resulted in significant human and material losses among the Houthis, including the killing and wounding of dozens of them, while a number of other members of the group fled the sites of confrontations. The battles continued - according to the same sources - on the Jabal Habashi and Al-Kadha fronts.

On the Jabal Han and Hathran front, west of the city of Taiz, violent confrontations broke out and ended - according to the Taiz military axis - with the defeat of the attacking forces, and the killing of the leader of the Houthi attack that targeted the positions of government forces in Jabal Han.

257 operations within a day

In conjunction with the ground confrontations, government forces escalated their operations against Houthi positions and movements, along a number of fronts.

The official spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, said that the forces carried out 257 precise targeting operations against Houthi positions, movements and military capabilities, using military aircraft, drones, artillery, missiles and launchers.

He explained that the operations included Sanaa and Midi in Hajjah and Baqim in Saada, and the Al-Jawf, Ma’rib, Al-Bayda and Lahj fronts, with the operational effort focused on the Taiz fronts. Pointing out the targeting of command and control centres, gatherings, mobilizations and combat reserves, in addition to weapons and ammunition stores and military supply lines and means.

According to Al-Nuzaili, the operations resulted - according to initial field estimates - in the neutralization of at least 700 Houthi members, and the destruction of 170 combat means and mechanisms, which he said had a direct impact on the group’s combat ability and limited its ability to continue its attacks against civilians in their homes and villages.

In another development, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced the implementation of 97 precision targeting operations against Houthi military reinforcements on the Tur al-Baha front and the Taiz axis.

Al-Nazili said that the operations varied between military aircraft, drones, artillery, missiles, and snipers, and resulted in the neutralization of 260 members of the group, and the destruction or damage of 44 military vehicles and means of transportation and supplies.

The Air Force also announced the implementation of strikes against Houthi targets in Sanaa and Saada, while the Armed Forces announced, earlier, the implementation of an attack on Houthi military targets in the capital, Sanaa.

These numbers raise the Houthi losses to nearly 6,000 dead and wounded within a week, according to successive statements by the Yemeni Armed Forces.

Mobilization and mobilization

Field developments in Taiz coincided with the government and armed forces moving to a higher level of mobilization and military preparedness.

The Ministry of Defense and the Chief of General Staff launched general mobilization and community mobilization, in implementation of the directives of the Chairman of the Presidential Command Council, Rashad Al-Alimi.

The announcement came during an expanded meeting chaired by the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Taher Al-Uqaili, in Aden, while the Chief of the General Staff and Commander of Joint Operations, Lieutenant General Saghir bin Aziz, participated via video call from Ma’rib, along with assistants to the Minister of Defense, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and heads of military bodies and departments.

Al-Uqaili said that the Ministry took practical measures to implement the decision on general mobilization and general mobilization, activate human mobilization and reserve paths, organize reception centers, and assign the concerned authorities to begin implementing the tasks assigned to them.

The Yemeni Minister of Defense affirmed that the armed forces would carry out their duty to defend the country and its sovereignty, defeat the Houthis, and restore state institutions, stressing military control and connection, mobilization of energies, and integration of efforts.

For his part, Bin Aziz said that the declaration of general mobilization represents a national decision that requires an orderly transition to the highest levels of preparedness, unifying efforts and capabilities, raising the efficiency of the armed forces, and enhancing their ability to perform their duties.

He stressed the completion of an inventory of forces, means and needs, organizing recall and reinforcement work, raising the level of discipline and readiness, enhancing training and qualification, and working to build an integrated military and societal effort.

In light of the intensification of the fighting, the Chief of Staff made contact with military and field leaders in Taiz, including a member of the Supreme Military Committee, the commander of the Taiz Front, Major General Youssef Al-Sharaji, the commander of the Taiz Axis, Major General Khaled Fadel, the Chief of Staff of the Axis, Major General Abdul Aziz Al-Majidi, and the leader of the Taiz resistance, Rashid Shamsan.

Bin Aziz listened to briefings about the progress of operations and the field situation on the various fronts of the governorate, praising the positions of the people of Taiz and their support for the armed forces, and their initiative to participate in the fighting.

He stressed that the armed forces on various fronts and sectors stand alongside the fighting forces in Taiz, praising what he described as the efficiency and combat capabilities of the fighters, and the performance of military aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles.