ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations on Monday urged the warring parties in Yemen to cease hostilities and avoid “further militarization” of the conflict, a senior official from the global body told Rudaw, as the Aden-based internationally recognized government (IRG) launched a counteroffensive to retake areas recently seized by the Iran-backed Ansarullah Movement, better known as the Houthis.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "has wanted the sides [of the conflict] to de-escalate tensions, and he continues to want that," his Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told Rudaw's Namo Abdulla.
Guterres "does not believe the further militarization of the conflict, including involvement by the outside powers, will be helpful," Haq added.
The remarks come as the conflict in Yemen has seen a sharp escalation in recent days.
Haq's statements coincided with Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claiming the group had carried out “three qualitative military operations” across Saudi Arabia in the past 24 hours.
The first operation targeted King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh and caused a “disruption of air traffic,” Saree alleged. A second targeted an Aramco refinery in the western Red Sea port of Rabigh, where the group claimed “fires broke out at the targeted site,” while a third targeted military and civilian installations in southwestern Saudi Arabia, including Abha International Airport.
On Sunday, the Riyadh-aligned IRG announced what it dubbed the “Dawn of Yemen Operation,” which Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Aden-based government's Presidential Leadership Council, said aims “to restore state institutions, liberate the capital Sana'a, and end the Houthi terrorist militia coup.”
Shortly after Alimi's statement, Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Riyadh-led coalition in Yemen, announced that “100 fighter jets” had participated in the Operation.
“We destroyed 324 high-value targets,” including weapons depots and “naval mines,” he added in a later post on X.
Asked about the escalating tensions on the Yemeni front, US President Donald Trump told Rudaw's Diyar Kurda on Monday that the Saudi-backed IRG's counteroffensive “will work out very well.”
These developments follow the lightning offensive by the Houthis in September, in which the group briefly seized coastal positions along the Bab al-Mandeb, the strategic strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, where the Iran-backed group has imposed restrictions on Saudi vessels.
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