Houthi Yemen missile sites hit in Saudi coalition strikes

Overnight operations on Al Bayda were accompanied by targeted air strikes that destroyed Houthi facilities at Hodeidah port

A picture from November 16, 2015 shows a Saudi F-15 fighter jet taking off from the Khamis Mushayt military air base, about 880 km from the capital Riyadh, as the Saudi army conducted operations over Yemen. AFPShow less

The Saudi-led coalition announced that strikes had destroyed several ballistic missile launchers in Yemen’s eastern Al Bayda province late on Thursday, as it ramps up military operations against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The raids came as the UN Special Envoy for Yemen warned that a recent sharp rise in fighting following the start of the major Houthi offensives in recent months was seriously jeopardising the possibility of peace talks.

Overnight operations on Al Bayda were also accompanied by targeted air strikes that destroyed the Houthis’ capabilities at Hodeidah port on the Red Sea.

The coalition has called on civilians in the capital Sanaa to stay away from Houthi military camps and gatherings as it carries out targeted strikes in the coming days and weeks.

It said the military operations were a “response to the threats of hostile attacks”.

The coalition fighting the Yemeni Houthi rebels said the port of Hodeidah has been used by Iran to smuggle in weapons to the Houthis.

“The Houthis took advantage of the Stockholm Agreement — which was signed at the end of 2018 between the government and the Houthi militia under the auspices of the United Nations — as an umbrella for protection and a threat to the freedom of maritime navigation,” the coalition said in a statement on Thursday.

It follows a request from the UN to inspect sites at Hodeidah port as it feared the vital aid and goods terminal was being used to store and transport weapons.

Sanaa, held by Iran-aligned Houthi forces since 2014, had since 2020 enjoyed relative calm as fighting flared elsewhere in Yemen.

Yemeni pro-government security forces man a checkpoint in Ataq city, the capital of the province of Shabwa, east of the Red Sea port of Aden. AFP

But in September the coalition resumed attacks on military sites belonging to the Houthis after they ramped up cross-border missile and drone launches on Saudi cities and on Monday struck the UAE.

The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from Sanaa. The Houthis say they are fighting foreign aggression.

The UN has urged de-escalation in the nearly seven-year-old conflict in which more than 100,000 people have been killed and 4 million displaced, in a war marked by coalition air strikes as well as Houthi shelling and missiles.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg concluded a visit to Riyadh on Thursday after meeting with Saudi Vice Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman and Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Bin Mubarak.

Mr Grundberg expressed “grave concern” about the impact of the recent military escalation on the prospects of peace in Yemen and the heavy toll it has taken on civilian lives and livelihoods.

“Air strikes, missiles and drones, are continuing to claim civilian lives and damage civilian infrastructure, both in Yemen and in neighbouring countries. This is disrupting the prospects of a comprehensive political solution and exacerbating the humanitarian suffering in Yemen,” Mr Grundberg said.