The Saudi-led Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen on Saturday described Houthi claims that the Saudi capital, Riyadh, had been targeted as misleading, linking the group’s announcement to military developments on Yemen’s battlefronts and the casualties among its members, according to remarks by coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki.
Al-Maliki said: “What the Houthis are facing in Taiz, along with the casualties among the group’s members that we are following and witnessing at the hands of the heroes of the Yemeni armed forces and popular resistance on all fronts, is driving them to seek imaginary victories.”
Coalition responds to claims of targeting Riyadh
The coalition spokesperson attributed the group’s position to “an attempt to divert attention from the scale of its losses, the growing public anger over the militias’ conduct, and their ties to foreign agendas that have brought chaos and destruction to Yemen”. The coalition issued its position after the Iran-backed Houthis claimed they had targeted Riyadh, as unified Yemeni forces fought battles to thwart the group’s attempts to consolidate positions it had previously attacked on the western coast.
Recent Yemeni reports say the group lost about 5,000 fighters in a single week. The figure cited in the reports comes as the Yemeni armed forces continue to carry out a series of air and ground operations on various fronts where Houthi attacks have taken place.
The reported clashes are concentrated in Taiz and on the western coast, alongside other fronts, while the coalition views the announcement of an attack on Riyadh as part of the group’s effort to present a different picture of the course of the fighting and the losses recorded among its fighters in recent days.
