Yemeni military says it carried out 81 operations against Houthis in 24 hours

In a statement, military spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said the operations had led to the “neutralization” of a number of Houthi fighters and field commanders.

Operations, he added, had also destroyed military equipment, vehicles, and other “sources of threat.”

According to the spokesman, the operations were part of a broader series of “retaliatory measures” in response to what he described as repeated attacks by the Houthis on civilian infrastructure.

Al-Nuzaili accused Yemen’s Ansar Allah group – also known as the Houthis – of attempting to impose a blockade on Yemen and halting the country’s oil exports, thereby depriving the Aden-based government of revenue used to pay public-sector salaries.

He cited recent Houthi attacks on the Port of Mocha and the Al-Ardi pier in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, as well as recent attacks on ships that he said carried food supplies to residential areas and camps in the central-eastern Marib province.

He added that, since the beginning of 2026, the government had issued more than 350 permits for commercial vessels to enter the Houthi-controlled ports of Hodeidah, Salif and Ras Isa.

Al-Nuzaili said the military would continue defending Yemen’s sovereignty, claiming the recent operations had shown its ability to conduct simultaneous and coordinated attacks across multiple fronts.

In 2014, the Iran-backed Houthis overran much of the country, including Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.

This was followed by several years of war between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition.

Since the eruption of the Israel-Gaza conflict in 2023, ​​​​​​​the Houthis have become increasingly involved in regional hostilities, carrying out missile attacks on Israel and Israel-linked commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The latest uptick in fighting – coupled with the ongoing conflict between Iran and the United States – has revived fears of a return to full-scale conflict in the impoverished Gulf country.