Yemeni armed forces claim fresh Houthi ballistic missile attacks on Marib city

In a statement shared on their official X account, Yemeni armed forces accused the Iran-backed Houthis of Saturday's attacks that targeted "the city of Marib, its neighbourhoods, and its densely populated camps housing residents and displaced persons with ballistic missiles".

As this happened, Presidential Leadership Council member Maj Gen Sultan Bin Ali Al-Arradah chaired a meeting with the Security & Military Committee in Marib to discuss the latest security & military developments. The meeting was attended by General Staff Chief Lt Gen Saghair Bin Aziz.

The accusation comes after two people were killed and 14 others injured in a Houthi missile and drone barrage targeting the city.

Citing a military source, the statement said the attacks would be met with a response at the "appropriate time and place".

Earlier, Yemen's internationally recognised government said its forces had targeted Houthi positions in multiple locations, Al Jazeera reported.

On Saturday, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that they carried out a broad military operation targeting Houthi positions along multiple frontlines, framing the strikes as a direct response to recent offensive actions by the militia in the Marib and Hadramout governorates.

Speaking in an address carried by state broadcaster Yemen TV, Armed Forces Spokesperson Colonel Majed Al-Nuzaili stated that the operation was launched under "the legitimate right of the Yemeni Armed Forces to defend their security and the security of their heroic members, and to protect unarmed civilians from the treacherous and repeated terrorist attacks carried out by the terrorist Houthi militia."

Al-Nuzaili noted that recent Houthi attacks had caused casualties among military personnel and civilians, prompting a coordinated counter-offensive across several combat axes.

"Our armed forces have carried out a military operation against the forces and capabilities belonging to the Houthi militia and its terrorist elements on several axes along the lines of contact with our armed forces," Al-Nuzaili said, adding that the action demonstrated "the unity of command and control of our armed forces."

Issuing a stern warning against further military escalation, the spokesperson emphasised that any attack against a single sector would be treated as an assault on all government-aligned units nationwide.

"We emphasise that aggression against any front or axis is considered aggression against all fronts and axes belonging to our armed forces with all their formations and heroic personnel," he stated.

Addressing the public, Al-Nuzaili appealed to Yemeni tribes and citizens to unite behind government forces to restore state institutions, accusing the Houthi militia of "looting its resources and wealth, the imposition of illegal levies, the tearing apart of its economy, and plunging the nation into regional conflicts for external agendas."

In closing, the military spokesperson held the Houthi movement and its backers fully accountable for ongoing hostilities, warning that future attacks would draw firm military retaliation under the direction of the country's political and military leadership, the statement shared by Yemen TV highlighted. (ANI)