Yemen reaffirms full control over battlefield gains, dismisses Saudi Arabia’s ‘imaginary victories’
Yemen’s armed forces say they have maintained full control over all their battlefield gains, dismissing Saudi claims of advances as “imaginary victories” aimed at pleasing their patrons.
“The Armed Forces maintain full control over all their battlefield gains. What the enemy is promoting as victories is nothing but imaginary heroics intended to please its masters, just like its malicious tactics, which our people are well aware of, whether along the western coast or elsewhere,” spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement on Tuesday.
The statement added that more than 200 Saudi-backed forces have been killed or wounded over the past several hours in dozens of strikes targeting their movements in Ras al-Arah and al-Saqiya.
It said the losses among the Saudi mercenaries were unprecedented in all previous confrontations, both in personnel and military vehicles.
The statement added that Yemeni forces have carried out dozens of strikes in the eastern part of al-Jawf Province, targeting Saudi military concentrations and inflicting large numbers of casualties while destroying and setting several vehicles ablaze.
The Yemeni forces also carried out strikes against Saudi military concentrations east of Ragwan in Marib Province, killing and wounding several personnel and setting a number of vehicles on fire.
On Monday, the Saudi mercenaries claimed they had regained control of the Dhubab district on the country’s west coast near the Bab al-Mandeb strait. They later said they had also captured the port city of Mocha.
Yemeni field sources reported that a limited advance by Saudi coalition-affiliated forces in the al-Mudharabah area, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, was targeted by Yemeni forces.
The Yemeni armed forces carried out a series of precise retaliatory strikes deep inside Saudi territory, targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and the Aramco refinery in Rabigh.
In a statement issued Monday, Saree said the operations employed a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles alongside drones. The first strike hit King Khalid Airport directly, disrupting air traffic.
The escalation is the most serious since Saudi Arabia bombed the main airport in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, in July, prompting the Yemeni armed forces to launch missile and drone attacks on the kingdom.
The Yemeni forces have vowed to continue attacks on Saudi military and energy sites until Riyadh breaks a 10-year siege on Yemen that has crippled its economy.
Saudi attacks on Yemen are also aimed at weakening the Yemeni military’s control over Bab el-Mandeb, a waterway in the Red Sea which is key to Riyadh’s oil exports.
Yemeni forces advanced to areas near and inside the strait in mid-September after defeating foreign-backed forces based in those regions.