ADEN, Yemen — The leader of Yemen’s Saudi-backed government on Sunday announced the start of a Yemen military operation to retake territory held by the Iran-backed Houthis, marking a dramatic escalation of the country’s civil war.
In a televised address, Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said the forces of the internationally recognised government would move to restore state authority across the whole of Yemen.
“Today, I announce the start of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory,” al-Alimi said.
FAKTA
- Who announced it: Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council — the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government based in Aden.
- What: The start of military operations to retake Houthi-held territory and restore state authority nationwide.
- When: Sunday, 4 October 2026, in a televised address.
- Where: Yemen — the Houthis control the capital Sanaa and much of the north; the government holds Aden and the south.
- Immediate backdrop: Yemeni government forces reported 257 precision targeting operations on Saturday; the Saudi-led coalition reported 97 more on Sunday.
Al-Alimi orders forces into action
Al-Alimi said he had instructed the armed forces, the security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned tasks under an approved plan “until the country is liberated from the Houthis.”
He added that all state institutions would be placed on full alert “until the mission is completed and victory is achieved.”
The announcement had been anticipated: regional and Western officials had previously told Reuters that Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni allies were planning an assault on the Houthis, with the Saudis leading aerial combat and Yemeni forces fighting on the ground.
Fighting intensifies on multiple fronts
According to the spokesman for Yemen’s internationally recognised government forces, Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili, Yemeni forces “executed 257 precision targeting operations” against Houthi sites, movements and military capabilities on Saturday. He said initial estimates indicated at least 700 Houthi fighters were killed.
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition supporting the government, Turki al-Maliki, said on Saturday that the Houthis’ “ties to external agendas” had brought “chaos and devastation to Yemen.”
Earlier on Sunday, the coalition said its forces had carried out 97 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the Tur al-Baha front and the Taiz axis, using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers.
Meanwhile, Yemeni military sources said Houthi forces had severed a vital supply route to government-held Taiz, stopping traffic on the main road connecting Taiz with Aden, with fighting in the area continuing.
Why the Yemen military operation matters now
The Houthis have held the initiative on the ground in recent weeks, seizing the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait in a lightning offensive down the Red Sea coast that saw government forces collapse. The strait is the southern exit of the Red Sea — a key shipping route between the Mediterranean and Asia that has assumed even greater importance this year as an alternative to the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war.
The group launched an offensive on 3 September in the provinces of Taiz and Hodeida, making significant advances including the capture of the city of Mocha and areas near Bab el-Mandeb, according to regional reports.
Saudi Arabia entered Yemen’s civil war in 2015 at the head of an Arab coalition in support of the internationally recognised government, which the Houthis had driven out of the capital Sanaa. A truce agreed in 2022 largely held until this year, when the Houthis launched missile and drone attacks on Saudi shipping and oil infrastructure in a spillover from the Iran war. Fighting has intensified since the fragile truce collapsed in July, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.
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