SANA’A -- Yemen’s armed forces said on Saturday they struck a gathering of Saudi-backed militants in the southern province of Lahij with ballistic missiles, inflicting dozens of casualties, as they pressed a widening offensive around the strategic approaches to Aden.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Yemen Armed Forces, said the missile attack targeted a concentration of forces loyal to Saudi officer Badr al-Harbi in the Kharaz area of Lahij province.
“The strikes were precise and direct, leaving dozens killed and wounded and destroying a large number of military vehicles,” Saree said in a statement carried by the Sanaa-based Al-Masirah channel.
The missile strike came less than 24 hours after a similar operation in which Saudi-backed gatherings in Lahij and al-Jawf were targeted, with a large number of fighters killed and wounded, Saree said, describing the tempo of operations as evidence of the Yemen Armed Forces’ intelligence capabilities in tracking and targeting enemy movements.
The attacks form part of a broader escalation across multiple fronts. On Friday, Saree announced that the Yemen Armed Forces had targeted the Ras
Abbas military camp in Aden with ballistic missiles and drones, setting weapons depots ablaze, and struck gatherings commanded by Saudi officer Faris al-Shammari in eastern al-Jawf with two ballistic missiles.
He also said the force had hit Saudi oil infrastructure, including a pumping station on the East-West pipeline and the Yanbu facility on the Red Sea, as well as a military cargo plane at Sharurah airport and a ballistic missile launch toward Khamis Mushait airbase.
The reported missile fire on Aden was acknowledged by Saudi-backed militants, whose spokesman said two ballistic missiles had been fired at targets in the city and described the attack as dangerous.
The latest exchanges come as the Yemen Armed Forces have made sweeping territorial gains in Lahij, a province that encircles Aden from the north and west and through which the main road linking the interim capital to the rest of the country passes.
Field reports said Sana’a-based forces reached the coastal strip connecting Aden and Lahij south of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, placing Saudi-backed militants in the al-Suqiya and Ras al-Ara areas in a position where they faced surrender and capture or withdrawal without their weapons.
The advance came despite dozens of Saudi airstrikes aimed at halting or delaying the movement, and sources said the main supply route used by Riyadh-aligned groups had been brought under control.
The Yemen Armed Forces had earlier taken control of Ghayl al-Barir, Huwayrib and the Kharaz camp in the al-Mudaribah area of western Lahij, and advanced from the opposite axis toward the Kharaz camp and the Khor Umayra area between Aden and Lahij.
Fierce clashes erupted near the Kharaz camp on Thursday after the Yemeni forces seized the Bir al-Tawani area and approached the base, which is considered one of the main military support hubs for Saudi-backed militants and houses large weapons warehouses.
Yemeni military commanders have described the operations as a response to continued Saudi aggression and siege.
Hazam al-Assad, a prominent member of Ansarullah’s political bureau, said the Yemen Armed Forces have not yet engaged in full-scale combat and warned that a comprehensive escalation could lead to the collapse of the Al Saud regime, describing the Saudi government as fragile and dependent on oil reserves.
He said all commanders and officers directing the military aggression against Yemen hold Saudi citizenship, and that Yemeni victories on the West Coast and in Ta’izz have exerted immense pressure on Riyadh and Washington.