Yemen · updated 2h ago · 2 min read
Saudi-Led Coalition Deploys 100 Fighter Jets in “Dawn of Yemen” Against Houthis
100 fighter jets participated in Dawn of Yemen against Houthis. Coalition reports 324 high-value targets destroyed since Dawn of Yemen began.
11 outlets told this the same way.
Outlets did split on Houthis Attack Aramco Facility in Riyadh With Ballistic Missiles and Drones →
8 of 10 outlets skipped it: houthis deny government advance on Dhubab/Bab al-Mandab.
11outlets compared
Jets, targets, and air cover
Saudi-led coalition statements said 100 fighter jets participated in the “Dawn of Yemen” operation against the Houthis, and the coalition said 324 “high-value targets” were destroyed since the operation began.
The coalition said it was providing round-the-clock air support to Yemeni government forces and air protection for the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while operations against moving targets were continuing.
Yemeni military spokesman Lt. Col. Majid Abdullah al-Nuzayli said government forces, including the pro-government Southern Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield forces, had taken control of Bab el-Mandeb.
Yemeni military statements also said government forces had taken control of Dhubab airport and cut the road between Dhubab and Mocha, establishing fire control over it.
The operation was launched by the Yemeni military to retake state institutions and territory controlled by the Houthi militia, according to the coalition’s description of the campaign’s purpose.
Sanaa aims and contested advances
Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad al-Alimi announced the start of “Operation ‘Dawn of Yemen’” and said it aimed to restore state institutions, retake the capital Sanaa, and end the Houthi militia’s control.
The coalition said its air force was securing the Bab al-Mandab Strait and that operations against moving targets were ongoing, while it provided round-the-clock air support to Yemeni armed forces operating on the ground.
Yemeni government forces said they had taken control of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb area and the nearby Dhubab district from the Houthis, while the Houthis denied any government advance.
Lt. Col. Majed al-Nuzaili said on X that pro-government Southern Giants Brigades and Nation’s Shield forces “successfully took control of Bab el-Mandeb,” and he added that government forces also seized Dhubab airport and cut the road between Dhubab and Mokha.
The fighting was described as part of a wider push to reunify the capital under Presidential Leadership Council authority, with the Houthis maintaining control of Sanaa since September 2014.
What is at stake next
The coalition said it was providing air cover to secure the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and it framed the campaign as continuing with operations against moving targets. Yemeni military claims said government forces carried out a flanking operation to take Bab el-Mandeb and established fire control over the Dhubab-Mokha road, while the army said it had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Houthi artillery and rocket positions. A Yemen analyst at the International Crisis Group told AFP that it was “still too early to say that we are witnessing a decisive turning point,” and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute told Al Jazeera that “I don't think it's going to be an easy and quick operation.”
“‘I don't think it's going to be an easy and quick operation.”
The same TRT World account said the operation would be carried out by Yemen’s armed forces and other military formations with the support of the country’s “brothers and friends,” and it described a “strategic offensive” on Sanaa. The sources also tied the escalation to the Houthis’ September offensive, which forced more than 145,000 people from their homes, according to U.N. figures cited in the reporting.