Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi group asserted that they had seized more than 150 square kilometers of territory inside Saudi Arabia. According to the report published by the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency, they seized the lands in the south of the Kingdom through continuous attacks carried by the group towards Saudi territory.
While the agency did not provide any further information regarding territorial gains, it stated that more than 200 Saudi soldiers were killed, wounded, or imprisoned during the Houthi military operations. Sixty armored vehicles were also destroyed, the agency added.
In response, the Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen made statements rejecting the Houthi claims. Speaking to a Saudi-based TV channel, Coalition spokesperson Turki Al Maliki described the Houthi claims as “media fabrications.”
In his statement, Al Maliki said, “Houthis have suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment in Yemen’s Marib and Al Jawf provinces, where more than 4,000 rebel vehicles were destroyed in the past six months.”
The same allegations had been put forward by the Houthi group previously, which Saudi authorities rebuffed and labeled as “rebel propaganda to cover for its losses.”
Houthis maintain its military aggression towards both Saudi territory and the Marib region in Yemen. On Monday, the Iranian-backed group asserted that they carried out a successful drone strike targeting the King Khalid military airbase in Khamis Mushait, in southern Saudi Arabia.
Last week, the foreign minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, Ahmad Awad bin Mubarak, held a phone call with the US Special Envoy for Iran, Robert Malley, and called the United States to put pressure on Iran to stop its support for the Houthi group.
