Yemen’s leader announces military operation to retake Houthi-held territory

Rashad al-Alimi says the campaign aims to restore state authority throughout Yemen.⁠The ⁠Saudi Arabia-backed head of ⁠Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, ⁠Rashad al-Alimi, has announced the start of military operations to retake the ⁠remaining territory held by ⁠the Iran-backed Houthi armed group ⁠and restore ⁠state ⁠authority across the country.In a televised address, al-Alimi said on Sunday the internationally recognised government’s forces would extend “the authority of the state and its institutions over the entire national territory”.“We have instructed the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned tasks under an approved plan until the country is liberated from the Houthis,” he said.Al-Alimi added that all state institutions will be placed on full alert “until the mission is completed and victory is achieved”.Hundreds of Houthis killedThe development comes after Yemeni forces “executed 257 precision targeting operations” against Houthi sites, movements, and military capabilities on Saturday, according to the spokesman for Yemen’s internationally recognised government forces, Colonel Majed Abdullah al-Nazili.He added that initial estimates indicate that the operations killed at least 700 Houthi rebels.The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition supporting the government, Turki al-Malik, said on Saturday that the Houthis’ “ties to external agendas” have brought “chaos and devastation to Yemen”.Earlier on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition said its armed forces carried out 97 “precise targeting operations” against Houthi reinforcements on the Tor al-Baha front and the Taiz axis, using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and snipers.