Yemen Military Hits Houthi Positions in Retaliatory Strikes

Yemen's military announced on Saturday that it has carried out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, responding to recent attacks that killed dozens of soldiers and civilians in central and eastern Yemen.

Colonel Majed al-Nazili, the military spokesperson, said the operation targeted the Houthis' "forces and capabilities," including what he described as terrorist elements, across several axes along the front lines. He did not provide further operational details.

Al-Nazili said the strikes were intended to defend the security of military personnel and protect unarmed civilians from what he called "treacherous and repeated terrorist attacks" by the Houthis in the Marib and Hadramout regions.

The escalation marks a significant deterioration in the fragile calm that has held since a UN-brokered truce in April 2022. The renewed hostilities between the Houthis and the internationally recognized government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, threaten to reignite Yemen's civil war after a four-year hiatus.

UN envoy Hans Grundberg warned on Friday that Yemen now faces a greater risk of renewed large-scale conflict than at any point since the truce was signed. He urged all parties to exercise maximum restraint, avoid actions that encourage military retaliation, and return to UN-brokered negotiations to resolve their differences.