The chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Rashad al-Alimi announced a full-scale military campaign against the Iran-aligned Houthis across all provinces of the country, opening a new phase in the Saudi-backed government’s war with the group. The objective is nothing less than the re-capture of Sanaa, the capital, and all Houthi-controlled territory.
“Today, I announce the start of military operations to reclaim the remaining territory of the Republic of Yemen and to extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory,” he announced in a televised address.
The offensives follows al-Alimi’s call for a general mobilization in September to confront the Houthis, designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist organization, after the group intensified attacks on Yemeni government forces and Saudi territory.
Speaking with MBN, Yemeni Brig. Gen. Faraj Ghleis, commander of joint operations in the Fifth Military Region, which includes the coastal city of Al Hudaydah, said the announcement meant moving beyond preparation and readiness to “the stage of decisive action and the beginning of liberation.”
Ghleis said the operations would not be limited in scope and that their geographic reach would extend across all Yemeni provinces under Houthi control.
“It is a strategic campaign whose objective is Sanaa and the restoration of all areas,” he said.
The new and ambitious military campaign comes after major advances by the Houthis. In recent weeks, the group has seized areas overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait and launched widespread attacks on Saudi energy facilities.
The Bab al-Mandab has become a lifeline for Gulf oil since the Iran War has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz. About 8.1 million barrels a day passed through the strait in the second quarter of 2026, up about 50% from late 2025, as Saudi Arabia rerouted crude to its Red Sea port of Yanbu, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The Red Sea normally carries about 30% of global container traffic, according to a 2024 report from the OECD’s International Transport Forum.
The Houthis have made further gains in the last 48 hours in the strategic highlands near the city of Taiz, advancing toward the last road linking the city to Aden, where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government holds out.
Houthi control of the Taiz-Aden road would effectively put Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest city, under siege. Hundreds of thousands of civilians live there, and thousands of government troops are based there.
The Houthis have escalated their campaign against state institutions, civilians and neighboring countries in recent months. Al-Alimi said the decision to launch the military operation came after opportunities for peace with the group had been exhausted.
“We have issued our directives to the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned missions in accordance with the plan, until the country is liberated from the grip of the Houthi militia,” Al-Alimi said.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Col. Maj. Majed al-Nazili recorded a statement announcing the “start of the liberation campaign, the completion of the restoration of state institutions and the end of the coup.”
Yemeni government forces and their allies have fought the Houthis since the rebel group ousted the internationally recognized government in Sanaa in 2014. Saudi backing came the following year, but successive offensives have stalled short of a decisive victory.
The two sides agreed to a United Nations-brokered truce in 2022, before flaring again in 2026, when the Houthis began launching missile and drone attacks against Saudi shipping and the kingdom’s oil infrastructure after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran in February.
Retired Saudi Maj. Gen. Pilot Abdullah Ghanem al-Qahtani told MBN that the current operation differs from previous campaigns because it was planned in advance, and that government forces have learned from previous mistakes.
The operation has received substantial backing from the Yemeni government’s allies, he said, which include Saudi Arabia, and that current regional and international circumstances are creating conditions for securing more international support for the Yemeni government.
The Saudi crown prince several weeks ago asked U.S. President Donald Trump to launch direct strikes against the Houthis, but Washington declined and instead offered to share intelligence with Riyadh and support any targeting operation, according to an Axios report.
