The Coalition to "Ofoq News Middle East": Houthi Claims of Targeting Riyadh are Misleading

The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen described the Houthi claims on Saturday of targeting the Saudi capital Riyadh as "misleading."

Major General Turki Al-Maliki, the coalition spokesman, told "Afaq News Al-Awsat" that "what the Houthis are experiencing in Taiz and what we are monitoring and witnessing in terms of human losses among the group's elements at the hands of the heroes of the Yemeni armed forces and the popular resistance on all fronts makes them search for illusory victories," justifying this behavior as "an attempt to divert attention from the scale of losses and the increasing public anger towards the militias' behavior, and their connection to external agendas that have brought chaos and destruction to Yemen."

The Iran-backed group claimed it targeted Riyadh at a time when the unified Yemeni forces are engaged in battles to repel the group's attempts to consolidate positions they attacked on the western coast.

Recent Yemeni reports indicate that the group has lost about 5,000 fighters within a week, while the Yemeni armed forces are carrying out a series of military operations, both aerial and ground, on various fronts that the Houthis have attacked.

Colonel Majid Al-Nazili, spokesman for the Yemeni armed forces, announced in a statement the execution of 257 precise targeting operations against the sites, movements, and military capabilities of the Houthis, using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles, and rocket launchers.

The Yemeni military spokesman stated that the operations included Sana'a and Midi (northwest), Baqim (Saada), in addition to the fronts in Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Bayda, and Lahij, with operational efforts focused on the fronts in Taiz, targeting command and control centers, gatherings, reinforcements, combat reserves, and warehouses of weapons and ammunition, as well as military supply lines and means.

According to initial field estimates, the operations resulted in neutralizing at least 700 militia elements, according to Al-Nazili, who clarified that strategic and high-value military targets estimated at 170 combat vehicles and equipment were destroyed. He stated that this "had a direct impact on the combat capabilities of the militias and limited their ability to continue their attacks against civilians in their homes and villages."