Yemeni government forces say they have "neutralised" 1,860 Houthi fighters since launching a large-scale counteroffensive to retake territory held by the armed group, also known as Ansar Allah.
The spokesperson for the internationally recognised government's military said in a social media post early Thursday that forces had carried out 2,103 "precise targeting operations" against Houthi military positions across several fronts as part of the ongoing "Dawn of Yemen" campaign.
The Yemeni government, backed by Saudi Arabia, also says its forces have captured strategic mountain positions in western Taiz overlooking the coast.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, announced the Dawn of Yemen operation on Sunday, with the stated goal of retaking all Houthi-held territory, including the capital, Sanaa, which the Iran-backed group has controlled since 2014.
Battles have focused in recent days on areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a shipping route that has grown more critical for energy exports since trade through the Strait of Hormuz was restricted. Government-aligned forces launched an operation on Tuesday to recapture strategic territory near the strait and around the city of Mocha, which the Houthis had seized last month.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Wednesday it had destroyed 82 Houthi military targets across the Yemeni governorates of Saada, Hodeidah, al-Jawf and Marib. A coalition spokesperson said the targets included missile sites, "11 mountain-based ballistic missile storages in Saada, command and control centres, communication systems, missile and weapons storages."
The latest coalition strikes followed Houthi attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport. Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said the attacks killed three people in total. One person was killed and eight wounded at King Khalid airport, while two people were killed and 28 wounded at Abha airport.
The attacks drew condemnation from across the region. Kuwait denounced them as a "flagrant violation" of Saudi sovereignty and international law. Egypt said the strikes threaten the security of the entire region. The Mecca-based Muslim World League also condemned the attacks, describing them as "treacherous terrorist attacks."
On the diplomatic front, Yemen's permanent representative to the United Nations, Abdullah al-Saadi, met on Wednesday with the UN secretary-general's special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to discuss the situation in the country.
During the talks, al-Saadi accused the Houthis of rejecting peace initiatives and de-escalation efforts proposed by the Yemeni government. He stressed that the government's goal is to extend its authority across the entire country and permanently end the Houthis' capacity to wage war, adding that the government is not seeking a temporary truce, which he argued would only lead to renewed fighting.
