The internationally recognized Yemeni government forces announced the targeting of “high-value” sites in Sanaa, along with dozens of targets in Taiz, at a time when media reports reported that strong explosions were heard on Thursday evening in the Yemeni capital, which is under the control of the Ansar Allah Houthi group.
Footage from Agence France-Presse showed huge columns of smoke rising over the city, while the “Saba” agency - affiliated with the Ansar Allah group - spoke on the “X” platform about what it described as “Saudi aggression.”
In a statement on the
The spokesman for the Yemeni government forces stated, on Friday morning, that air force aircraft carried out 20 precise strikes during the past three hours, targeting movements, reinforcements, gatherings, elements, vehicles and military equipment belonging to the Houthis in Taiz Governorate.
The spokesman explained, in a post on the “X” platform, that the strikes directly hit “hostile” targets and caused losses to “the ranks of the Houthi militia, its equipment, and its military movements.”
In a previous statement, government forces said that their forces carried out 27 “precise and focused” air strikes, targeting a missile warehouse, command and control centers, advanced supply and armament points, gatherings of “militia” members, and military vehicles and vehicles.
The statement explained that the raids achieved “accurate and direct hits” on their targets, and resulted in the destruction of dozens of vehicles and “the neutralization of large numbers of militia members, dead and wounded.”
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen also said, on Thursday evening, via the “X” platform that it “intercepted and destroyed” two ballistic missiles and four drones over the southern city of Jizan - close to energy and oil facilities that had been targeted in recent weeks - and over the city of Khamis Mushait, located in southwestern Saudi Arabia and which has an air base.
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The Saudi Civil Defense reported that falling debris following the interception of a ballistic missile in the Khamis Mushait area caused “limited material damage.”
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For its part, media outlets affiliated with the Ansar Allah Houthi group said that warplanes belonging to the forces of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, supported by the Saudi-led coalition, launched raids on the movement’s targets in several governorates in Yemen during the past hours.
These outlets reported that the warplanes, which the group says were launched from Saudi Arabia, launched 11 raids on Wednesday against several targets in the Saada Governorate in northern Yemen, neighboring Saudi Arabia, and communications networks in the Amran Governorate, located south of Saada.
'Unfounded' accusation
Earlier, Thursday, the coalition said that the Houthis this week targeted an electricity distribution station in Medina, which led to one of the transformers being out of service, but without affecting the electricity network.
The coalition stated that the investigation and examination of the wreckage of a drone confirmed the group’s involvement in carrying out the attack that occurred on Tuesday, and targeted the station supplying the Prophet’s Mosque with electricity.
On the other hand, the Saba News Agency, run by the Ansar Allah group, quoted a “military source in the Ministry of Defence” in the government it runs, saying that the Saudi accusation of targeting the power station was “unfounded” and described it as a “lie” aimed at covering up what he described as Saudi Arabia’s inability to prove its previous accusation that the group targeted Mecca.
Two weeks ago, Saudi Arabia announced that it had intercepted and destroyed a drone launched by the Ansar Allah group, south of Mecca, before it entered the prohibited airspace of the Holy City.
The coalition described this incident as the second attempt by the group to target Mecca since 2017, while the group denied targeting Mecca or any other holy Islamic site.
The coalition said that the Medina attack comes within the framework of "repeated attempts" by the Houthis to target the Two Holy Mosques and "provoke" Muslims around the world, stressing that it continues to take measures to protect the holy sites and their visitors.
'Provocative attacks'
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Türkiye announced its strong condemnation of the "Houthi attack on civilian infrastructure" in Medina, describing them as provocative attacks that "must be stopped immediately and unconditionally."
Ankara reaffirmed its “strong support for Saudi Arabia” and called for steps to prevent further escalation.
The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassim Al-Budaiwi, condemned the attack and considered it “a crossing of all red lines, a blatant provocation of the feelings of Muslims all over the world, and a dangerous continuation of violating the sanctity of Islamic sanctities.”
The latest wave of escalation is the most serious between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis since a UN-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022.
Hostilities were renewed this year after the group announced the imposition of a ban on maritime navigation on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea in July, and they began attacking Saudi territory and shipping traffic, coinciding with the Houthi forces achieving significant field gains on the coast of Yemen overlooking the Red Sea.
On September 11, the group completed its control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait following the withdrawal of government forces from several areas after a round of violent battles, and then tightened its control over the western coast of Yemen.
Saudi Arabia responded by launching air strikes in Yemen and providing support to government forces fighting to repel the Ansar Allah group.
'serious' threat
On another level, the internationally recognized Yemeni government warned, in a letter to the UN Security Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations, of a threat it described as serious to the safety and security of international civil aviation over the southern Red Sea, as a result of the Ansar Allah group’s use of weapons that it said were of Iranian origin, launched from areas under its control in Hodeidah Governorate towards international air routes.
In the letter, the government called for “urgent international action to confront this threat and enforce the arms embargo imposed on the movement,” explaining that these Iranian weapons had been modified inside Yemeni territory with the participation of experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and were transformed into missiles capable of remaining in the air for up to 25 minutes.
