The Saudi-Emirati coalition forces said that they had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile and 3 bombed drones, launched by the Houthis today, Thursday, towards Saudi Arabia, while the Houthis announced their control of Al-Bayda Governorate (central) and continued their advance to control the neighboring Ma'rib Governorate.

And the coalition said - in a statement reported by the official Saudi news channel - that "the Saudi defenses intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the city of Jazan (southwest of the kingdom)."

The coalition confirmed - in a separate statement - that the Saudi defenses intercepted and destroyed 3 booby-trapped drones launched by the Houthis towards Khamis Mushait (southwest of the Kingdom).

The statement added that the efficiency of the air defenses "thwarted all the futile attempts of the Houthi militia, and we will take operational measures to target the sources of the threat in accordance with international law."

The Houthis used to launch ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi regions, in exchange for repeated announcements by the Arab coalition - led by the Kingdom in Yemen - to thwart these attacks, while some of them left civilian casualties.


The Houthis are advancing in Marib

On the ground, the Yemeni army said today, Thursday, that the Houthi forces are intensifying their campaign to advance towards the city of Marib (in the center of the country), which is under the control of the Saudi-backed government, in parallel with the intensification of fighting operations in the south.

A source in the Yemeni government army confirmed that the Houthi forces are located about 18 km west of the city of Ma'rib, but the main battles are taking place in Shabwa Governorate (south), which has many oil fields and the only liquefied natural gas platform in the country.

Houthi forces are advancing towards Usaylan in Shabwa, where the Jannah oil field is located.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said, "The group's fighters are on the western outskirts of the city of Ma'rib, and are advancing on other fronts, after they inflicted many losses on the other side (government forces) during the past months."

Marib lies about 120 km east of the capital, Sanaa, which the Iran-aligned Houthis seized and most of the north of the country in 2014 when they ousted the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi from the capital.

Since the beginning of this year, the Houthis have advanced on 3 fronts towards the Marib region, the last stronghold of the government in the north, and which has the largest gas fields in the country.

Both sides suffered a large number of dead and wounded.

The escalation coincides with the visit of United Nations and US envoys to the region in an attempt to revive peace talks.


control the white

Today, Thursday, the Houthi group announced the completion of its control over the remainder of Al-Bayda Governorate, after a large-scale military operation dubbed "Dawn of Freedom".

The military spokesman for the group said - in a statement - "The armed forces, with the support and backing of the Al-Bayda tribes, completed the task of liberating the remaining areas of Al-Bayda Governorate in the military operation Dawn of Freedom."

He added that our forces managed to liberate 2,700 kilometers within 48 hours, during which 3 districts were liberated, namely: Al-Soma'a, Maswarah, and parts of the Mukayras district on the borders of Abyan governorate (south).

Saree pointed out that the operation killed 70 of what he called "Takfiri elements and mercenaries of aggression", in addition to wounding 120, capturing 40 others, and damaging 10 armored vehicles and military vehicles.

He pointed out that during the operation, the coalition of aggression launched more than 30 raids, trying to support these elements and stop the progress of the army and the popular committees, but the missile force and the guided weapon were on the lookout.

Al-Bayda Governorate - which links north and south Yemen, and the Houthi group controls most of its twenty districts - is one of the strategic governorates that the two parties to the conflict (the Houthis and the Yemeni government) are keen to win as a result of its many advantages.

The governorate is characterized by not having a popular incubator for the Houthis belonging to the Shiite sect, as the vast majority of the residents of al-Bayda belong to the Sunni sect, and the Salafist movement is prominent in the governorate, in addition to an active presence of the Yemeni Congregation for Islamic Reform Party.


agreement in Socotra

On the island of Socotra, the head of the Southern Transitional Council on the island (backed by the UAE), Raafat Al-Thaqali, said that it had been agreed with the Saudi forces at Socotra Airport to hand over its administration to the people of the island.

Al-Thaqali added - in a speech to the protesters at the airport gate - that the agreement also provides for the exit of the remaining Yemeni government forces at the airport without their military equipment, and entry to it is prohibited before the agreement is implemented.

Supporters of the Transitional Council prevented - for the second day in a row - the entry of Socotra Airport employees, and imposed a siege on the Saudi forces controlling it, after they refused to land the Emirati aircraft.

Since June 2020, the council's militants have controlled the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, after confrontations against government forces.

To no avail, the Yemeni government called on the Saudi-Emirati coalition to pressure the Transitional Council to withdraw its forces and restore the situation in Socotra to what it was.

Yemen has been witnessing for nearly 7 years a continuous war between pro-government forces backed by the Saudi-Emirati coalition against the Iran-backed Houthis, who have controlled governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.

This war has claimed the lives of more than 233,000 people, and 80% of the population - numbering about 30 million people - has become dependent on support and aid, in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.