The Yemeni Armed Forces have carried out a wide-ranging operation targeting military positions, including command centers, held by Saudi-backed mercenaries across the country.
Yemeni media reported on Thursday that the operation involved the firing of a large number of ballistic missiles and drones at enemy troop concentrations and command centers in the al-Ruwaik area of Ma’rib Province, as well as the al-Abr, al-Thaniyahm and al-Wadiah districts in Hadhramaut Governorate.
Speaking to al-Masirah TV, a Yemeni army source said that the operation killed and wounded many Saudi-linked mercenaries, while destroying their military camps, weapons depots and armored vehicles.
Yemen’s “shift toward conducting preemptive strikes against hostile targets reflects a strategy aimed at disrupting Saudi forces’ preparations and limiting their ability to determine the timing and location of any future escalation,” according to a report by al-Masirah.
The fresh Yemeni attacks killed at least 58 mercenaries and injured dozens, a Saudi military source who spoke on condition of anonymity told AFP.
Meanwhile, Ma’rib Governor Ali Tuaiman and Hadramout Governor Luqman Baras in separate statements warned Yemenis against fighting in the ranks of the enemy.
For more than a decade, Yemen has been gripped by conflict involving the popular Ansarullah resistance group, as well as rival militants supported separately by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Saudi Arabia waged a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, but it failed to reinstall a Riyadh-friendly regime there. In 2022, the kingdom agreed to a ceasefire with Ansarullah, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional government in Sana’a.
Last month, Yemen declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in response to Saudi Arabia’s unjust land, sea, and air siege for nearly 12 years and the kingdom’s plundering of the country’s resources, along with recent Saudi attacks on the Sana’a International Airport.
Additionally, on Thursday, Yemen’s Sana’a-based Government commended the Armed Forces’ operation against major Saudi military mobilizations
It also praised the Yemeni force’s readiness to defend the nation’s efforts to lift the oppressive Saudi siege.
The Supreme Political Council said that Yemen will continue the “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation” policy until the nation secures its freedom and independence, warning that any military mobilization by the enemy will be met with “painful” strikes.
“Saudi ground and naval mobilizations will not deter our people from pursuing their legitimate rights and ending the injustice against them,” it added.
It further held Saudi Arabia fully responsible for the consequences of any escalation, stressing that the kingdom has no option but to lift the blockade on Yemen, cease its aggression, and respect the legitimate rights of Yemeni people.
