Al-Alimi said that the country is moving “from the preparation stage” to a military operation after, in his words, the options for de-escalation were exhausted. He stated that the goal of the campaign is to retake territories remaining under Houthi control and extend the government’s authority across the entire country.
He also promised amnesty to Houthi fighters who lay down their arms and called on residents of areas controlled by the movement to cooperate with government forces. All military, security, and civilian state institutions, he said, have been placed on full alert until the operation ends.
Two days earlier, Reuters, citing six regional and Western sources, wrote that Saudi Arabia was preparing an offensive against the Houthis. The agency reported that two options were being considered: a limited operation to retake the Bab el-Mandeb Strait area at the entrance to the Red Sea, or a broader offensive simultaneously in the Yemeni provinces of Al-Bayda, Marib, Taiz, and Al-Jawf. According to Reuters, more than 100,000 Yemeni troops could be involved in the operation.
The ground offensive is to be carried out by Yemeni formations backed by Riyadh, while Saudi Arabia is to carry out airstrikes. One of the agency’s sources claimed that the US is providing Riyadh with intelligence and target-selection data. Reuters also wrote that Pakistan sent military equipment and advisers, and that Saudi Arabia is using previously purchased Turkish drones in Yemen. At the same time, according to the agency, Donald Trump had earlier refused to satisfy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s request for direct US air force participation in strikes on the Houthis.
The Insider calculated that in just September 10–11, the Houthis seized at least four important points on the western coast and near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait: the major port of Mocha, the Hanish Islands, the city of Dhubab, and Perim Island. After that, Reuters reported that the group had gained control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia uses the route through the Red Sea as one of the ways to export oil bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, and experts interviewed by the publication warned that advancing toward the narrow part of the strait would increase the threat to shipping not only from long-range missiles and drones, but also from shorter-range weapons from the shore.
On September 29, Yemen’s parliament approved a general mobilization to fight the Houthis. Later, Middle East experts interviewed by The Insider noted that mobilization alone is unlikely to quickly change the situation because of the fragmentation of anti-Houthi forces, but Saudi Arabia’s return to large-scale combat operations could mean the resumption of full-scale war after several years of relative calm.
The new escalation has already led to mass displacement. According to the UN World Food Programme, tens of thousands of people have left their homes in recent weeks, and in government-controlled areas 74% of households lack food.
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