Saudi-backed militants face either surrender or withdraw without weapons as Yemeni forces strike Saudi command centers and the Yanbu pipeline, and press toward Ta’izz.

ADEN, Yemen -- Yemen’s Armed Forces reached the coastal strip linking Aden to Lahij Province on Friday, completing the encirclement of Aden Province and offering Saudi-backed militants in al-Suqiya and Ras al-Ara a choice between surrender and withdrawal without weapons.

The advance followed Wednesday’s capture of Al-Mazja in Lahij after heavy clashes that began in early November, bringing the Sana’a-aligned forces closer to the Mokha-Aden ground line of communication—a major supply route for troops loyal to the Saudi-appointed Presidential Leadership Council (PLC).

The Yemeni forces are now about 80 kilometers from Aden and have advanced toward heavily defended Ta’izz, tightening a years-long blockade imposed in response to the Saudi-led coalition’s decade-long war and siege on Yemen.

Fighters also seized Ghayl al-Barir, Huwayrib and Kharaz Camp, encircling the last Saudi-loyal camps in Khawr Umayrah and Kharaz, and took control of a Saudi-built field hospital in the area.

A Yemeni military source told the Sana’a-affiliated Saba news agency on Friday that the Armed Forces struck a gathering of Saudi officers at Jabal Hadid camp in Aden Province.

Independent Yemeni outlet al-Masdar Online reported ballistic missile strikes on Aden, with explosions heard across the city, though damage and casualty figures could not be independently verified.

The advances follow fierce clashes Thursday along several fronts near Kharaz Camp in Lahij, described as a main military support base for Saudi-backed militants housing large weapons warehouses.

Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement that six strikes targeted Saudi troop concentrations at Kharaz Camp, Ras al-Arah and other positions in Lahij, resulting in dozens of casualties with direct hits.

Muhammad al-Farah, a member of the Ansarullah political bureau, said Yemeni forces continue to advance in Lahij while Saudi-sponsored elements experience confusion and disarray.

Major General Ahmed al-Turki, a commander of Saudi-backed militants, reportedly left the frontline without coordination, while Mahmoud al-Subaihi, a member of the so-called presidential leadership council, departed Aden for Riyadh.

Saree announced Friday that Yemeni forces launched a drone attack on Pumping Station No. 7 on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline in the Red Sea city of Yanbu.

“The operation was carried out successfully,” he said. It marked the third time the pipeline was targeted in the past week. On Wednesday, Saree said a Yemeni drone hit Pumping Station No. 7 on the East-West line, adding that a missile attack also targeted other oil facilities in Yanbu.

The East-West pipeline is Saudi Arabia’s only major bypass route to export oil without using the Strait of Hormuz, which has been closed since the start of the U.S.-Israeli aggression against Iran.

Saree also announced Thursday that Yemeni forces struck King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh with three cruise missiles and dismissed Saudi claims of intercepting missiles over Mecca as “a great falsehood”.

The YAF said its operations also targeted Saudi troop concentrations in Al-Jawf and Ma’rib, as well as a Saudi command center in Al-Burayqa in Aden governorate that oversees Saudi military concentrations across active fronts in Lahj, Al-Dhale, Ta’izz and other governorates.

Saree said Wednesday that the Saudi enemy had launched 98 airstrikes and missiles over the previous 24 hours, targeting civilian objects in Lahj, Ta’izz, Sa’ada, Al-Jawf and Ma’rib with F-15 and Typhoon aircraft operating from Khamis Mushait and Taif bases, as well as missile fire from Jizan, leaving martyrs and wounded among civilians. The total number of Saudi airstrikes since the beginning of the escalation has reached 4,863, he said.

Saudi Arabia launched its war on Yemen in March 2015 but failed to reinstall a Riyadh-friendly regime. In 2022 the kingdom agreed to a ceasefire with Ansarullah but maintained its land, sea and air blockade.

In July, Saudi Arabia escalated its decade-long war, triggering a major retaliatory campaign by Sanaa under a “siege for siege, escalation for escalation” formula.

In September, Sana’a’s forces seized the Bab al-Mandab Strait, much of the western Yemeni coast, and several Red Sea islands, strengthening control over the strategic passage between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.