The Houthi rebels of Yemen announced this Thursday a wide offensive with rockets and unmanned aircraft against facilities and camps of the government forces in the governorates of Marib and Hadramut, in the east and north of the country.
The military spokesman of the movement, Yahya Sari, explained on social media that "Our Armed Forces have carried out a qualitative and large-scale military operation against concentrations of the Saudi enemy in the areas of Al Ruaik, Al Abr, Al Zaniyh and other camps belonging to the so-called First and Third Emergency Divisions".
According to his words, in the offensive "hundreds of Saudi mercenaries" would have died and it would have been possible to "destroy and burn a large number of camps, warehouses and enemy weaponry", although for now there is no official casualty balance from the authorities.
The media center of the First Division of the Emergency Forces of Yemen has also acknowledged on social media that "the Houthi militias have attacked government camps", confirming that the assault has caused "material and human losses".
In parallel to this upsurge of violence, the Ministry of Defense of the internationally recognized Government has communicated the start of a wide security campaign that will extend across several governorates, with special emphasis on Hadramut and Al Mahra.
Riyadh condemns a "treacherous attack" and reinforces its support for Sanaa
The spokesman for the military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, Turki al Maliki, has denounced in a statement disseminated on social media the "treacherous Houthi attack" and has conveyed his condolences to the relatives of the Yemeni soldiers "fallen", as well as to the Government and the population of the country.
Al Maliki has also reiterated Riyadh's "unwavering support" and that of the other coalition partners for the "legitimate" Yemeni Executive in its fight against the "Houthi terrorist militia".
The UN calls for restraint and to avoid a "greater" escalation
In light of the deterioration of the situation, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has urged the "Yemeni parties" to act with "moderation" and not to take measures that could lead to a "greater" military escalation.
His deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, warned in a press appearance that "the resumption of fighting could reverse the hard-won progress in reducing violence in recent years".
Haq has emphasized that "The parties must prioritize dialogue and collaborate constructively with the efforts led by the UN to reach a negotiated political solution."
The United States labels the Houthi attacks as "cowardly"
The United States Embassy in Yemen has expressed its "deepest condolences to the families of the brave Yemeni soldiers who died today in Hadramut and Marib" and has strongly condemned the offensive. "The cowardly attacks by the Houthis, backed by Iran, represent yet another example of their terrorism against the Yemeni people," it stated on social media, while wishing "a speedy recovery to the wounded."
This new spike in tension comes after the death of Osama al Radfani, a high-ranking commander of the Homeland Shield Forces — a force aligned with the Yemeni government and funded by Saudi Arabia — in an ambush in the Hadramut province over the weekend.
The Yemeni Minister of Information, Muamar Al Eryani, blamed the attack on the Houthi insurgency and framed it within what he described as a systematic campaign against high-ranking military officials, security officials, and figures involved in efforts to restore state authority.
In a message on social media, he stated that "This cowardly crime reveals once again the terrorist nature of this militia, which only believes in the logic of terrorism, murder, and attacks, and which uses chaos and violence as means to implement the agenda of the Iranian regime in Yemen and the region."
The role of the Southern Transitional Council and the Homeland Shield Forces
In this context, the Southern Transitional Council (STC) formally accepted in January to withdraw its militias from bases and key enclaves in Hadramut and Al Mahra, ceding its control to the Homeland Shield Forces, brigades created by the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen and operational under the command of the coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
The STC separatists, at the height of the Yemeni war, supported the central government with reservations in exchange for addressing their secessionist aspirations, recalling the existence of two states, North Yemen and South Yemen, until 1990.
The situation tightened again at the beginning of December of last year, when the CTS launched an offensive on the eastern provinces of Al Mahra and Hadramut, included in its territorial claims. That operation was responded to by Riyadh, an ally of the Yemeni Executive, with bombings on the areas captured by the independence forces.