The Houthi group renewed its bombing of Aden International Airport, on Wednesday, with a ballistic missile, coinciding with the intensification of battles on the Taiz fronts, and the Yemeni armed forces continuing to drain the capabilities of the Iranian-backed group within Operation “Yemen Dawn” at the level of personnel and equipment on various fronts, especially in Taiz and western Lahj.
The field developments coincided with the funeral of the bodies of 75 members of the security services who were killed in a Houthi attack that targeted a training center in the governorate in the city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa Governorate, according to the local media office.
In the latest political position, the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, confirmed the continuation of Operation “Yemen Dawn” until its goals are achieved, stressing that it is not limited to military action, but rather includes protecting the population, restoring services, creating conditions for recovery and reconstruction, and ensuring the regular work of state institutions.
Local sources reported, on Wednesday, that Aden International Airport was targeted by a new Houthi ballistic missile, which preliminary information said fell in the vicinity of the airport, without any confirmed information about casualties. Preliminary estimates stated that the missile was launched from southern Ibb Governorate.
The attack comes days after the airport was targeted by two missiles that landed inside its campus, one of them close to a Yemeni Airlines plane that was preparing to take off, according to what the Yemeni authorities announced. The airport has also previously been subjected to similar attacks, which puts the vital facility and civil aviation traffic at risk as the military confrontation expands.
The repeated targeting, according to announced field developments, reflects the extension of the escalation to vital installations in areas controlled by the Yemeni government, coinciding with military operations on the front lines. There was no confirmed information available about the extent of the damage resulting from the recent attack or its impact on air traffic.
In the context of military operations, the official spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nuzaili, announced that 744 precise and direct targeting operations had been carried out during the past twenty-four hours, using military aircraft, drones, artillery, launchers, and sniper units.
Al-Nuzaili said that the operations targeted field command and control centers, fire pits, fortified sites, and reserve mobilization areas, in addition to the Houthi group’s reinforcements and means of supply. He added that the operations resulted in the neutralization of about 200 members of the group, and the destruction and damage of 90 military vehicles, vehicles, and means.
He explained that government forces continue to expand their combat pressure in Taiz, while the eastern, southern and western fronts operate in sync with each other, restricting the movement of Houthi reserves, according to the statement. He stressed the continued implementation of missions in accordance with the operational plan, while limiting targeting to legitimate military targets and taking the necessary precautions to protect civilians and civilian objects.
In Taiz Governorate, the Taiz Axis Media Center reported that government forces, with the support of the popular resistance, the people, and air support, confronted Houthi attacks carried out in multiple directions on separate fronts.
The confrontations were concentrated on the northern front of the city, coinciding with similar attacks on the Al Shaqab front in the Sabr al-Mawadim District in the south, while field sources spoke of violent clashes in the areas of Ghorab, Madarat, and Jabal Han, west of the city.
The center stated that warplanes launched raids on the group's sites, destroying a weapons store and a command room in the Al-Dhabab area, west of Taiz, in conjunction with the destruction of a tank in the Al-Arsoum area, north of the city, and targeting Houthi gatherings in Al-Aqroud and Al-Misrakh in the south. The media center estimated the group's losses during the past hours at 98 dead and 148 wounded.
Fahd Al-Khulaifi, First Undersecretary of Shabwa Governorate, warned that the Houthi group had provided some terrorist organizations with drone technology, as part of what he described as the ongoing service between the two sides.
Al-Khulaifi's statements come after a Houthi missile attack targeted, on Monday, the Martyr Ahmed Al-Sulaimani Training Center, located on the outskirts of the city of Ataq, the capital of Shabwa Governorate (south-eastern Yemen). The local authority reported that the center was bombed with three ballistic missiles while new recruits in the Internal Security Forces were receiving security training and qualification programs, resulting in the death of more than 70 people and more than 200 wounded.
Al-Khulaifi said, in exclusive statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, that the attacks carried out by the Houthi group will not break the steadfastness of the people of the governorate, but rather will increase their resolve to confront them.
He added that the local authority has information confirming the existence of cooperation between the Houthis and terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda and ISIS, noting that the group enabled some of these organizations to obtain drone technology.
He explained that this cooperation is evident, according to him, in targeting the security forces and the Shabwa Defense Forces, in addition to the National Shield Forces that pass through the governorate towards other governorates.
The local authority declared the dead as “duty martyrs,” fixed their salaries permanently for their families, and guaranteed the rights and entitlements of the injured and disbursed them without delay, stressing the harnessing of the necessary capabilities to provide medical care for the wounded. Al-Khulaifi said that the victims and injured were new members of the police and security services in the governorate.
Al-Khulaifi pointed out that Shabwa Governor Awad bin Al-Wazir revealed that the local authority possesses evidence of cooperation between the Houthis and other terrorist organizations, adding that this coordination has escalated recently, and that the security services are monitoring it.
He continued that, as he put it, the Houthis and terrorist organizations are carrying out direct attacks, and planting explosive and booby-trapped devices on the roads and sites used by the security forces and the Shabwa Defense Forces. He added that this cooperation extended to the use of drones, after the Houthis enabled some organizations to use this technology.
Al-Khulaifi stressed that “these terrorist acts will not break the steadfastness of the people of Shabwa in the face of the Houthis,” calling on the Arab coalition to support the fronts with qualitative weapons to confront the capabilities of the Houthis, especially in the field of drones, and to provide ground defenses to confront ballistic missiles.
The local authority in Shabwa held the Iran-backed Houthi group fully responsible for the attack and the human losses resulting from it, considering that targeting recruits while they were receiving training is an extremely dangerous military escalation, and calling for urgent measures to be taken to protect military and security installations and their personnel.
The head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, was briefed on the developments of the attack, during a call with the Governor of Shabwa, Awad bin Al-Wazir, and directed the competent authorities to provide the necessary medical care for the wounded, care for the families of the dead, complete the procedures for settling their conditions and disbursing their salaries, and take what is necessary to respond decisively to the sources of the attack.
Al-Alimi said that targeting recruits reflects, as he put it, the Houthis resorting to attacks whenever they face pressure or their plans supported by the Iranian regime falter. He stressed that the attacks will not deter the state from continuing its responsibilities to protect citizens and restore its national institutions, stressing that the blood of the victims will not be in vain, and that caring for their families and triumphing over their sacrifices is a national responsibility.
Violent confrontations renewed, on Tuesday, on the fronts of the Yemeni city of Taiz, with the Houthi group launching attacks on the Al Shaqab front, in conjunction with intense bombardment targeting surrounding villages in Jabal Sabr, while government forces and the popular resistance continue to confront the attacks and prevent the group from achieving any progress, in parallel with the continuation of military operations within the “Yemen Dawn” operation, which has entered its 16th day.
The new developments come in the wake of the escalation of air strikes and drone attacks on Houthi positions in Taiz, Ma’rib, and Al-Jawf, and the announcement that “the Giants’ forces repelled a large-scale attack by the group in the Kahbub Mountains, west of Lahj, at a time when the Yemeni leadership escalated its political movement to demand the classification of the Houthis as a terrorist organization, and the tightening of international restrictions on the sources of their armament and financing.
Yemeni field sources said that the army and local resistance forces responded to the Houthi attacks on the Al Shaqab front, south of Taiz, and prevented the attackers from making any progress, while the bombing continued on the villages surrounding Jabal Sabr, in an extension of the confrontations that the region witnessed during the past hours.
In Al-Misrakh District, south of Taiz, government forces, with support from the popular resistance, continued their attack on Houthi positions, amid violent battles in the village of Sanamat. On Monday, government forces announced progress in the Al-Sanamat and Al-Sarari areas of Jabal Sabar, following confrontations with Houthi groups that attempted to infiltrate the villages of the region and reach the summit of Jabal Al-Arous and cut off roads through the villages of Sabar.
Field sources spoke of a decline in the pace of Houthi attacks on the city's vicinity during the past 24 hours, amid estimates that the group is trying to rearrange its forces in preparation for launching more violent attacks.
During the past 24 hours, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Majid Al-Nuzaili, announced the implementation of 1,164 targeting operations, which he said resulted in the neutralization of 558 Houthi elements, including field commanders, and the destruction and damage of 135 military vehicles and means. He added that the forces seized new positions in Taiz with air and artillery support, while the Shabwa fronts continued to put pressure on the group’s positions and obstruct its movements and reinforcements.
In Marib and Al-Jawf, government forces announced the targeting of Houthi armored vehicles, vehicles, and fortifications with drones, in conjunction with a new missile attack on the city of Marib. The Armed Forces Media Center published scenes of targeting Houthi vehicles on the Al-Jawf fronts, and pictures of striking fortifications and sites in Marib, while the drone unit of the Second Division of the “Homeland Shield” forces announced targeting a gathering of the group’s fighters in the Al-Labanat area in Al-Jawf, and the army announced the implementation of similar strikes in the Bayhan axis.
On the Kahboub front, west of Lahj Governorate, the “Giants’ Forces” announced that they had repelled a massive Houthi attack carried out by successive groups, and said that the confrontations continued for hours with various types of weapons, and with air support from the “Coalition to Support Legitimacy,” and resulted in deaths and injuries among the attackers.
This front is gaining importance because of its location separating Lahj from Taiz and its proximity to the corridors leading to Bab al-Mandab. Field data indicate that the group is trying to achieve a breakthrough in Kahboub to open a bypass route towards the strait, which may help it relieve pressure on its remaining pockets in the region. On the other hand, operations continue to secure the sites surrounding Bab al-Mandab, amid difficulties imposed by the density of mines.
Politically, the head of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, confirmed the continuation of Operation “Yemen Dawn” until its goals are achieved, explaining that it “is not limited to military action, but rather includes protecting the population, restoring services, creating conditions for recovery and reconstruction, and ensuring the regular work of state institutions.”
This came during his meeting with the Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy in Yemen, Neil Hope, where the two sides discussed bilateral relations and military and security developments, in light of the continuing Houthi attacks inside Yemen and across the border with Saudi Arabia.
The meeting discussed the violations that the government accuses the group of committing, including murder, arrest, displacement, and forced recruitment, in addition to the siege imposed on the city of Taiz, which Al-Alimi said deprives residents of water, oil derivatives, and basic needs.
Al-Alimi stressed the need to support efforts aimed at delivering water, food and medicine, facilitating the movement of civilians and opening vital roads for humanitarian supplies.
The Chairman of the Presidential Command Council renewed his thanks to Saudi Arabia for its political, economic and humanitarian support for the government and the Yemeni people, in conjunction with the continuation of military operations on several fronts.
In a parallel move, Al-Alimi officially asked the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to support an international move through the Security Council to classify the Houthi group as a terrorist organization, ensure the implementation of the arms embargo to it, dry up its sources of funding and armament, and hold its supporters and those responsible for its violations accountable.
During a phone call with Guterres, Al-Alimi briefed the Secretary-General on the attacks with missiles and drones targeting state institutions and civilian facilities, and the expansion of attacks on cities and villages, in conjunction with the siege of Taiz and the bombing of its residential neighborhoods. He also pointed out the continued detention of more than 70 United Nations employees, in addition to the kidnapping of thousands of citizens, according to what was reported by the Yemeni side.
Al-Alimi said that the government “dealed responsibly with the initiatives and agreements aimed at ending the war, while the group took advantage of the truces and political efforts to rearrange its ranks and continue escalation.”
He called on the international community to "move from condemnation to full implementation of international legitimacy resolutions, end the Houthi threat, lift the siege on cities, and open safe roads and corridors for civilians and food and medical supplies."
