Sanaa, Oct 5 (IANS): Yemen’s Houthi group said that Saudi Arabia had launched 106 air and missile strikes across Houthi-held areas over the past 24 hours, as the internationally recognised government announced a new military campaign to retake territory from the group amid a widening escalation in the country.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on social media platform X on Sunday (local time) that the Saudi attacks hit the capital Sanaa and provinces including Al-Jawf and Taiz.
Sarea said the latest attacks brought the number of Saudi air and missile strikes since the current escalation began to 1,516.
The figures could not be independently verified, and Saudi Arabia has not confirmed carrying out the strikes reported by the Houthis, reports Xinhua news agency.
The Houthi statement came hours after Yemen’s government announced the start of what it called the “battle of liberation,” marking a new phase in its campaign to retake Houthi-held territory.
The developments came as Yemen’s conflict entered one of its sharpest escalations in years, with heavy fighting spreading across southwestern Yemen and renewed missile, drone and air attacks reviving direct hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.
Yemen’s conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.
Meanwhile, the Houthi group made fresh territorial gains in the southwestern province of Taiz, pressing its advance as the internationally recognised government announced the start of a large-scale military campaign to retake what it called the remaining Houthi-held areas.
A local security official, speaking to Xinhua on condition of anonymity on Sunday (local time), confirmed that Houthi fighters had entered At Turbah, a strategic government-held centre in southern Taiz province, without fighting after government forces withdrew earlier in the day.
He added that government troops and allied fighters had pulled back to mountainous positions outside At Turbah, while some retreated farther south into neighbouring Lahj province following “battlefield setbacks and losses.” Houthi fighters subsequently moved into the city, deploying at key locations and its main entrances and exits.
Residents said Houthi fighters spread along major streets and around public facilities in At Turbah, while many merchants closed their shops before the group’s arrival. They said the Houthis also used mosque loudspeakers to urge residents not to resist.
