Yahya Sarie, the Houthis' military spokesman, said 94 airstrikes had been attributed to Saudi Arabia over the preceding 24-hour period, according to a broadcast news outlet. Strikes reportedly conducted with fighter jets and missiles hit locations described as civilian in Sana'a, Saada, Taiz, Hajjah, Amran, and Al Bayda provinces. Sarie claimed the strikes left civilians dead and wounded.
His statement also put the total number of airstrikes attributed to Saudi forces against Yemen since the onset of hostilities at 1,350.
A coalition statement, carried by a news outlet on Friday, reported that air-defence units intercepted three ballistic projectiles before they could reach Khamis Mushait, a city in the country's south.
On Monday, a military source based in Sana'a told a broadcast outlet that the group had placed Saudi Arabian bridges under threat of attack, framing the move as a response to airstrikes it attributed to the Saudi armed forces. Road bridges and associated infrastructure across Yemen have been struck in attacks attributed to Saudi Arabia, with authorities there maintaining the structures were used to support missile launches. A Yemeni source pushed back on that position, arguing that civilian crossings serve no military function and calling the stated rationale groundless.
On a separate front, a news outlet reported Friday that Saudi Arabia is assembling an offensive operation targeting Houthi positions along the coast, with the broader aim of reducing their territorial hold and reopening unobstructed transit through Red Sea trade routes. Planners with knowledge of the arrangements told reporters that the operation is set to begin within the next few weeks.
Ground operations were to be carried out by Yemeni troops under Riyadh's direction, with aerial support provided by the Saudi military. The central aim of the operation, as described, is to reverse territorial advances Houthi forces secured along the coastline in the preceding weeks, notably around the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Gulf and Yemeni sources indicated that officials in Riyadh are weighing two courses of action for the potential operation. The options under consideration include a contained operation targeting the Bab al-Mandab area and a wider campaign involving coordinated strikes across multiple Yemeni fronts, among them Al Bayda, Marib, Taiz, and Al Jawf. Unnamed officials indicated that the number of Yemeni fighters drawn into the operation could reach upward of 100,000, with the final figure tied to how broadly the campaign is conducted.
Representatives of the Saudi and Yemeni governments, the Houthi group, and the US military had not returned comment on the reported plans by the time of publication.
Bab al-Mandab is situated at the southern end of the Red Sea, serving as a passage connecting that waterway to wider maritime trade between the Mediterranean and Asia. The route has drawn heightened attention this year as vessels seek alternatives following disruptions to traffic through the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran conflict.
