Yemen's government forces say they have "neutralized" 1,860 Houthi fighters since launching a large-scale counteroffensive aimed at retaking territory controlled by the rebel group.
The military spokesman for the internationally recognized government said in a social media post early Thursday local time that it had carried out 2,103 "precision-targeted operations" against Houthi military positions across multiple frontlines as part of the ongoing "Yemen Dawn" campaign.
Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, announced the "Yemen Dawn" campaign on Sunday with the aim of recapturing all Houthi-held territory, including the capital Sanaa, which the Iran-backed group has controlled since 2014.
In recent days, fighting in Yemen has centered on areas around the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a shipping route that has grown increasingly important for energy exports after U.S.-Iranian tensions curtailed trade through the Strait of Hormuz.
On Tuesday, forces allied with Yemen's government launched an operation to seize strategic territory near the strait and around the city of Mocha, an area the Houthis captured in September.
Coalition airstrikes
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Wednesday that it had destroyed 82 Houthi military targets in the provinces of Saada, Hodeidah, al-Jawf and Marib.
A coalition spokesman said in a statement that the targets included ballistic missile sites, among them "11 mountain ballistic missile depots in Saada, command and control centers, communications systems, and missile and weapons depots."
According to the spokesman, the new operation followed Houthi attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday targeting Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport and Abha International Airport.
Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority said the attacks on the two airports killed three people.
The General Authority of Civil Aviation said in a statement that one person was killed and eight wounded in the attack on King Khalid International Airport, while two people were killed and 28 wounded in the attack on facilities at Abha airport.
