The Houthi Iranian proxy terror organization in Yemen proudly announced on Thursday the alleged killing or injuring of hundreds of “Saudi enemy mercenaries” in a large attack on military assets associated with the legitimate government of Yemen.
Multiple reports citing the Yemeni government on Thursday said the known death toll at the time was closer to between 30 and 45 people, though several suggested that this number would rise as the government assessed the damage. The Yemeni government is allied with the government of Saudi Arabia, while the Houthis rely on the Iranian terror state for much of their diplomatic, military, and financial support.
The allegedly massive terrorist siege occurred in the context of renewed hostility between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia in which the former announced a “blockade” of the southern mouth of the Red Sea and launched a piracy campaign targeting Saudi oil tankers and other civilian maritime vessels. The report also follows the revelation through anonymous reports that the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) began restocking the Houthis with weaponry in mid-July.
According to the pro-Iran outlet Al Mayadeen, the Houthis announced that they launched a major operation to neutralize Saudi-allied forces supporting the legitimate government in Yemen. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed that the attack caused “hundreds of casualties and significant material damage.”
“In light of the criminal Saudi enemy’s persistence in continuing the siege and aggression against our dear Yemeni people for nearly 12 years, our Armed Forces monitored large Saudi military concentrations that were in their final stages,” Saree said, according to a translation by Al Mayadeen, “aimed at escalating against the free provinces and the Yemeni people to deter them from their position on ending the unjust siege.”
The spokesman claimed that hundreds of “Saudi enemy mercenaries” were killed or wounded and that the Houthi strikes successfully targeted “a large number of Saudi enemy camps, concentrations, weapons depots, and military equipment in the al-Wadi’ah area, east of the country.”
Reports from non-Houthi-affiliated outlets suggest that the death toll, as estimated in the immediate aftermath of the attack, was closer to several dozen. The Emirati newspaper The National reported that the Houthi strikes killed at least 45 people in Marib and Hadhramaut provinces, citing Yemeni government forces, while the Qatari network Al Jazeera reported similar numbers, but detailed that 30 were confirmed killed and 15 injured. The Saudi news network Al Arabiya, citing its own military sources, also reported at least 45 troops killed, though it specifically identified the victims as “Yemeni government troops,” not Saudi reinforcements as the Houthi claimed.
Yemeni officials confirmed the operation to Al Arabiya and issued a statement condemning the “treacherous attack” and vowing a response. The statement did not offer any details, however, stating only, “we will respond to the Houthis’ aggression at the appropriate place and time.”
The Houthis are a Shiite jihadist terrorist organization backed by Iran and fighting under the slogan, “Allahu Akbar, Death to America, Death to Israel, a Curse Upon the Jews, Victory to Islam.” The gang plunged Yemen into a state of civil war in 2014, when they stormed the national capital, Sana’a, and forced the legitimate government into exile in the southern port city of Aden. The war stalled after a ceasefire was implemented in 2016, but intermittent violence has continued consistently since then.
The hostilities took on a global scope following the genocidal jihadist terrorist attack against Israel by another Iranian proxy terror group, Hamas, on October 7, 2023. In support of the massacre, the Houthis announced that they would blockade civilian shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that leads out of the Red Sea, significantly damaging the global economy. These attacks ended with a “pause” brokered by President Donald Trump in May 2025.
That “pause” appeared to end in July, when the Houthis announced a “maritime ban” on Saudi shipping, which translates in practice to a renewal of terrorism against commercial ships in the Bab el-Mandeb. The precipitating event to this ban appeared to be a controversy surrounding flights from Tehran to Sana’a, one that the Saudis allegedly attempted to block from landing. The Houthis claimed that the flights were carrying their officials, who had flown to the Iranian capital to attend the funeral services of defunct dictator Ali Khamenei. Reports in late July – about flights on July 13 – suggested, however, that the flights were carrying material terrorist support for the Houthis.
According to Reuters, which cited sources both on and off the record, the July 13 flight was carrying “between 10 and 21 IRGC personnel, including senior commanders” as well as significant amounts of military equipment.
“The IRGC commanders travelled there to support Houthi operations and provide training on new missile systems,” an anonymous Iranian source claimed. Saudi targeting of the flights elicited outrage from the Houthis, who shortly after the arrival of the materials announced the new “maritime ban” on Saudi shipping. The “ban” was announced on July 22.
The Houthis claim to have targeted nine Saudi oil vessels as of Thursday and have insisted that they will continue engaging in attacks on civilian ships indefinitely.