Bab Al-Mandab cleared of Houthis as Saudi-led coalition destroys 136 targets

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said Saturday it destroyed more than 130 military targets in a “large-scale operation” against the Iran-backed group, while Yemeni government forces had taken control of Bab Al-Mandab and Mayun Island after clearing the area.

The conflict between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government — which Saudi Arabia supports — reignited in July and has since spilled over into the neighbouring kingdom.

“We are carrying out a large-scale operation targeting the personnel and capabilities of the Houthi terrorist militia,” Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi coalition, wrote on X.

“We destroyed 136 military targets in areas controlled by the Houthi terrorist militia,” he said in a separate post.

التحالف : نعمل على تفكيك وتدمير شبكة الصواريخ الباليستية للميليشيا الحوثية الإرهابية. https://t.co/mnxkWjbQsY

Al-Maliki said late on Friday that the strikes targeted different elements and capabilities of the Houthi militia, including its ballistic missile network.

“We are working to dismantle and destroy the ballistic missile network of the terrorist Houthi militia,” Al-Maliki said in a post on X, accompanied by footage of the airstrikes.

He said coalition forces were providing air support to the Yemeni Armed Forces “around the clock, 24 hours a day.”

In subsequent posts, Al-Maliki shared footage of coalition aircraft striking Houthi elements attempting to conceal themselves under pressure from Yemeni government forces in the Bab Al-Mandab area. Other footage showed what he described as Houthi fighters fleeing their positions as government forces advanced with coalition air support.

Coalition forces also destroyed three Houthi rocket launch platforms used to threaten regional security, Al-Maliki said in a separate post on Friday.

“We destroyed 3 rocket launch platforms used by the Houthi militia to threaten regional security,” he said, adding that attacks on civilians and civilian facilities would be met with resolve.

Meanwhile, Yemeni government forces had taken control of Bab Al-Mandab and Mayun Island after clearing the area, AlArabiya reported on Friday, citing military sources.

مشاهد يوم أمس لتطهير القوات المسلحة اليمنية لباب المندب، وهروب عناصر الميليشيا الحوثية الإرهابية عبر البحر. https://t.co/zGbkXi6Suy

The developments come amid an escalation in Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, including strikes on civilian infrastructure and aviation facilities.The Houthi’s Almasirah TV channel reported that Saudi missiles targeted areas in the northwestern Yemeni governorate of Saada.

In addition to seizing territory along the Red Sea coast in Yemen, the Houthis have attacked transport hubs, oil facilities and other civilian targets in the Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, with drones and missiles.

Saudi Arabia said on Friday that attacks on Riyadh international airport had killed three people the previous day, when the Houthis claimed hits on the facility.

Houthi media reported that two people died in Saudi attacks on the airport in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s government forces have struggled to reverse the Houthis’ advance, despite a counter-offensive aimed at recapturing territory including the area around the Bab al-Mandab strait, which is crucial to global shipping.

Saudi Arabia will not agree to a ceasefire with the Houthis until the Yemeni government that it backs regains all the territory it has lost in recent weeks, a regional source briefed on Saudi government policy told AFP on Friday.

Saudi Arabia will also not bow to the Houthis’ “military blackmail”, the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Saudi Arabia is ruling out negotiations on “any truce or ceasefire before the Yemeni government regains the territory it lost last month”, the source said.

“Saudi Arabia will not bow to blackmail,” the source added.–Agencies