Saudi Arabia is preparing a new military offensive against Houthi forces in Yemen, Reuters reported on 2 October, citing Western diplomats and Gulf officials. The operation is expected to begin "in the coming weeks". Timing estimates range from within a week to after the US midterm elections on 3 November. Crisis.Zone has seen no official Saudi confirmation of the plan.
The Houthis are the Iran-aligned movement that controls much of northern Yemen. They took the port of Mocha on 10 September, according to Yemeni government sources, and Perim Island, inside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the next day. Bab el-Mandeb is the southern gateway to the Red Sea and carries an estimated 12% of global trade. Yemeni military sources said Houthi forces held nearly the whole Red Sea coast by 12 September, as we reported at the time. That followed the Houthi declaration of a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on 20 July.
Fighting continues as planning proceeds
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed dozens of Saudi airstrikes in a single day on communications and civilian infrastructure. The claim is unverified. Strikes were reported on Sanaa and the provinces of Saada, Taiz and Amran. Yemeni government warplanes reportedly carried out 20 strikes in Taiz province over three hours on 2 October.
AFP reported 80 combatants killed around Taiz in a single day, citing sources on both sides. The figure is provisional. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported that Houthi forces temporarily disrupted the road linking Taiz and Aden on 1 October with an improvised explosive device.
Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki confirmed an attack on the Taibah power station in Medina, which supplies the Prophet's Mosque. One transformer was damaged and the wider network was unaffected. Houthi media denied involvement.
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Humanitarian cost of the widening fighting
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen has raised alarm over the intensified fighting, and tens of thousands of people are already displaced. The World Food Programme (WFP) warns that three in four families in parts of Yemen are going hungry. Neither the Saudi timeline nor the scale of the operation is confirmed, and the casualty figures cited here remain provisional.
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