Yemeni army says its strikes killed 1,860 Houthi fighters

• Yemen’s internationally recognized government says its forces carried out 2,103 precision operations against Houthi positions across several fronts.
• The army says 1,860 Houthi fighters were “neutralized,” but did not clarify how many were killed or wounded.

Yemen’s internationally recognized government says its forces have carried out 2,103 precision targeting operations against Houthi positions and movements across multiple fronts as part of a major military offensive.

Army spokesperson Col. Majed al-Nazili said the operations targeted Houthi military positions, movements, fortifications and supply lines, according to a statement reported by Yemen’s state-run Saba news agency and other regional media.

The military said the operations resulted in the “neutralization” of 1,860 Houthi fighters and the destruction of hundreds of pieces of military equipment, supplies and military sites.

The army did not provide a breakdown of the figure of 1,860, meaning it is unclear how many were killed or wounded. The Houthis had not immediately commented on the figures.

The operations are part of the government’s “Dawn of Yemen” campaign, announced this week as government-aligned forces stepped up their offensive against the Houthis.

Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi said the campaign aims to retake Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, and restore state institutions under government control. The Houthis have controlled Sanaa and large parts of northern and western Yemen since seizing the capital in 2014.

Fighting has intensified around Taiz, the Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a strategic maritime passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

Government-aligned forces have also launched operations around the strategic city of Mocha and areas near Bab al-Mandeb. The escalation comes after the Houthis made territorial advances along Yemen’s western coast.

The renewed offensive has been accompanied by intensified Saudi-led airstrikes.

The Saudi-led coalition said Wednesday that it had destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in the governorates of Saada, Hodeidah, al-Jawf and Marib.

According to the coalition, the targets included ballistic missile sites, missile storage facilities, command-and-control centers, communications systems and weapons depots.

The escalation followed Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport.

Saudi authorities said the attacks killed three people and injured dozens more.

The renewed fighting has also triggered a sharp increase in displacement.

The International Organization for Migration said more than 200,000 people had been displaced in Yemen since early September as fighting intensified, compared with about 76,000 reported displaced people in mid-September.

The escalation marks the most serious deterioration in Yemen’s security situation since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 substantially reduced large-scale fighting.

The latest offensive is also unfolding as the strategic importance of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait grows amid disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.