Attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in central and eastern Yemen caused significant casualties among government forces on Thursday. According to Yemeni government officials, these assaults resulted in the death of at least 30 government troops and injured more than 50 others. A Houthi leader claimed the attacks targeted Saudi-backed troops, stating that ‘hundreds’ were either killed or injured.
The assaults hit camps for the internationally recognized government’s forces in Yemen’s Marib and Hadramout provinces. Yemeni officials chose to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
This marked a serious escalation since an unofficial truce in April 2022 halted significant fighting between the Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition, which supports the internationally recognized government.
Although Yemen’s army acknowledged the attacks on its camps, it did not release any casualty figures.
The attacks, according to Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, involved ballistic missiles and drones. He claimed they were a response to the Saudi-backed forces’ buildup in eastern Yemen. The strikes reportedly resulted in ‘hundreds of Saudi enemy mercenaries’ being killed or injured, as well as the destruction of military vehicles and weapons depots.
‘We call upon all our people to remain vigilant and confront any Saudi aggression, and to strike Saudi troop concentrations wherever they may be,’ Saree stated.
The U.S. mission to Yemen extended condolences to the families of the slain Yemeni soldiers in Hadramout and Marib. They labeled the Houthi attacks as further terrorism against the Yemeni people in a statement on X.
Yemen has been in a civil war since 2014 when the Houthis captured the capital Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened months later, striving to restore the internationally recognized government. The conflict has since become a proxy war, with neither side achieving a decisive victory.
The Houthis assert that this recent escalation, including a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is in retaliation for the kingdom’s air and sea blockade on Yemen since 2015.
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