A Saudi coalition Houthi operation described as “large-scale” is underway in Yemen, the Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen announced late Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki said 136 military targets had been destroyed in Houthi-held areas as warplanes back a government ground offensive along the Red Sea coast.
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Al-Maliki said the strikes targeted Houthi fighters and military capabilities, including the group’s ballistic missile network. “We are working to dismantle and destroy the ballistic missile network of the terrorist Houthi militia,” he wrote on X, alongside footage of airstrikes, Arab News reported. He said coalition aircraft were supporting Yemen’s armed forces “around the clock, 24 hours a day.”
Saudi coalition Houthi operation: the targets
In follow-up posts, al-Maliki shared video he said showed coalition aircraft hitting Houthi fighters trying to hide from government fire near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, and other footage of fighters abandoning positions as government troops advanced. He also said the coalition destroyed three Houthi rocket launch platforms, adding that attacks on civilians and civilian facilities would be met with resolve.
Yemen’s government forces are pressing their own offensive, known as Operation “Dawn of Yemen.” Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Majed Abdullah al-Nadhib claimed that government forces carried out more than 2,750 strikes on Houthi positions in 24 hours, neutralized more than 1,400 fighters and destroyed or damaged more than 250 vehicles and pieces of equipment, Anadolu Agency reported. Those figures could not be independently verified. The campaign’s stated goal includes retaking territory held by the Houthis, among it the capital, Sanaa.
Al Arabiya, citing military sources, reported that government forces had taken control of Bab al-Mandab and Mayun Island, which sits in the strait, after clearing the area. The waterway links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a vital shipping route.
Why Riyadh escalated now
The announcement followed two attacks on Thursday on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh that killed three Saudi nationals, among them Saudia pilot Capt. Hamoud bin Ali Alkalthami, as covered in our report on the Houthi Riyadh airport attacks. Saudi officials have also cited strikes in recent weeks on Abha, Khamis Mushayt, Jazan and Najran, an attempted attack on Mecca on Sept. 15 and a Sept. 29 strike on an electricity station in Medina.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree warned on Oct. 9 that only Houthi-approved airlines would be allowed to land in Riyadh, and only for “humanitarian” purposes, according to the Critical Threats Project and the Institute for the Study of War.
At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday, Saudi Ambassador Abdulaziz Alwasil said the kingdom “will not allow Yemen to be turned into a staging ground for threats to its security or to the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab Strait.” He urged the council to enforce existing resolutions, including the arms embargo on the Houthis, while saying Riyadh still backs a political settlement.
Iran warns Turkey and Pakistan
The offensive is drawing in regional powers. Turkey and Pakistan have sent support to Saudi Arabia under the Mecca defense pact, and Iranian outlets have responded sharply. The Tabnak news website said Iran views the deployment of Pakistani forces to Saudi Arabia as a security threat, and the semi-official Tasnim agency warned that Ankara and Islamabad could see their ships, interests and possibly their territory attacked if they join strikes on Yemen, Iran International reported. Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said outside involvement would not weaken the Houthis, whose formal name is Ansarullah.
Background: a war reignited
Yemen’s conflict began when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014, prompting the Saudi-led intervention in 2015. Fighting flared again this autumn when the group pushed along the Red Sea coast and toward Taiz, as described in our report on the Yemen offensive against the Houthis. Alwasil told the Security Council that Saudi economic and development support to Yemen exceeded $12.6 billion from 2012 to 2026, plus more than $4.5 billion in humanitarian aid.
What to watch next
The coming days should show whether government forces can hold Bab al-Mandab, whether Houthi missile and drone fire on Saudi cities slows under the air campaign, and whether Iran’s warnings to Turkey and Pakistan turn into attacks on shipping. Any threat to Red Sea traffic would add further strain to energy markets already rattled by the Iran war.
Sources
- Arab News: Coalition carries out wide-scale operations against Yemen’s Houthis
- Anadolu Agency: Saudi-led coalition says 136 military targets destroyed
- Iran International: Saudi-led coalition says large-scale operation underway
- Critical Threats / ISW: Iran Update, October 9, 2026
- Al Arabiya: Saudi-led coalition carries out wide-scale operations against Yemen’s Houthis