Yemeni government’s military says its forces advancing against Houthis

The military of Yemen’s internationally recognised government says it has killed hundreds of Houthi fighters in targeted operations over the past 24 hours.

Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, the spokesman for Yemeni government forces, said at least 1,150 Houthis were killed in almost 2,000 targeted operations across the country as part of operation “Dawn of Yemen”.

He said the army had destroyed Houthi ammunition dumps and at least 180 combat, transport and supply vehicles operated by the Houthis, adding that ground forces “continued to advance their assault”.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the information.

An attack on King Khalid International airport in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, on Saturday killed and injured several people and led to flights being cancelled.

When asked if the United States would join strikes against the Houthis after the attack, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that he “will make a decision soon”.

Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry, reporting from Yemen on Saturday, said the Houthis had yet to claim responsibility for the latest attack.

But the Iran-backed group has warned aviation companies to avoid using Saudi airspace, saying any aircraft operating there – except over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina – is a target.

Mawry said the Houthis were preparing to fight the war on multiple fronts, including against the participation of international actors, such as Pakistan.

“The Houthis say that if Pakistan engages in any military activities against them on behalf of Saudi Arabia, then they will be treated in the same fashion as the Saudis are currently being dealt with,” Mawry said.

There are plans to launch ballistic missiles towards Pakistan and attack Pakistan-flagged vessels in the Red and Arabian seas, he added.

“The fighting is spreading on multiple fronts, but it is a situation that will keep escalating,” Baraa Shiban, an associate fellow in international security and Yemen expert at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank, told Al Jazeera, adding that the violence will not be “dying down” anytime soon.

“There is no mediation happening this time – there [are] no regional or local mediators that are able to cool down the situation,” he said.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni forces are advancing on the Houthis in a bid to recapture areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical trade route for global shipping into and out of the Red Sea.

Battles are now raging around the strategic southern Yemeni cities of Mocha and Dhubab, which are on the Red Sea coast and strategically important for control of Bab al-Mandeb.

The Houthis, who have controlled Sanaa and parts of northwestern Yemen since 2014, seized the area in September, effectively taking control of the strait, although both sides claim control of the shipping lanes.