Saudi-Led Forces Launch New Offensive Against Yemen's Houthis

A Saudi-led coalition started a military operation against Yemen’s Houthis after the latter used ballistic missiles and drones in recent weeks to target Saudi Arabia's most populous areas, Saudi state television reported Wednesday.

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Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported airstrikes on the capital Sanaa, and the provinces of Marib, al-Jouf, al-Bayda, Hajjah, and Saada throughout Wednesday and into the night.

Residents in the Yemeni capital described the air raids as violent while Al Masirah reported late Wednesday several injuries.

The new push comes as Houthi fighters fired missiles last week that reached the Saudi capital Riyadh in the first such assault since a six-week ceasefire prompted by the coronavirus pandemic ended in late May. 

The coalition announced earlier that there would be a news conference on the operation that aims to neutralize the Houthis military capabilities, Al-Ekhbariya channel and Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV said.

Yemen’s devastating war started in late 2014 after the Houthi rebels overran the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north, driving the UN’s supported government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

The Western-backed coalition with Saudi Arabia and UAE as the main partners intervened the following year to restore Hadi's rule, engaging Yemen in a violent war that has settled into a stalemate.

The conflict has killed more than 100,000 people and created the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, with more than three million people internally displaced and two-thirds of the population relying on food assistance for survival.