The Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen intensified attacks on government forces in the Marib province, east of Sanaa, on Friday, a day after launching a major ballistic missile and drone assault on military positions in Marib and Hadramawt.
The renewed hostilities, among the most serious in Yemen in years, have raised fears that the relative calm in place since the 2022 truce could unravel, while fueling public and political calls for a broader military response against the group.
Residents said missiles and drones struck government positions in Marib on Friday, with successive explosions heard around the city and near camps for displaced people. Plumes of smoke were seen rising from the area as strikes also targeted Harib district.
Field sources cited deaths and injuries, including among displaced people. State-run Saba TV said government air defenses intercepted several explosive-laden drones launched by the Houthis over Marib. The group also targeted the city with missiles and drones, according to the channel, which noted that Marib hosts Yemen’s largest concentration of displaced people.
Friday’s violence followed a large-scale Houthi assault Thursday on Yemeni armed forces camps and units in Marib and Hadramawt, described by Yemeni sources as the most serious flare-up since the 2022 truce largely halted major ground operations.
According to Yemen’s Defense Ministry, the assault began at 10:40 a.m. Thursday and involved ballistic missiles and drones targeting several military camps and units across the two provinces.
The targeted positions housed troops tasked with securing government-held areas and international roads and countering Houthi operations and smuggling networks. The assault left several military personnel dead or wounded.
The ministry vowed that government troops would respond “at the appropriate time and place,” stressing that the strikes would not undermine their ability to carry out their duties or continue the battle to defend the republic and restore the state.
Field sources put the toll at dozens of soldiers killed or wounded in strikes on Emergency Forces and Homeland Shield positions in the two provinces, while the Defense Ministry confirmed 17 military fatalities.
The violence came as the ministry was conducting security and military operations in government-held provinces, particularly Hadramawt and Al-Mahra, targeting smuggling gangs and criminal cells following a series of assassinations of military personnel.
Authorities described the campaign as an effort to strengthen the state’s presence, secure roads and protect residents. The Emergency Forces media center linked the Houthi assault to recent government successes in pursuing wanted suspects and dismantling smuggling networks.
Al-Alimi orders response
Following Thursday’s attacks, an official in the office of Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Dr. Rashad al-Alimi said he was closely monitoring developments and had held a series of calls with council members and governors Sultan al-Arada of Marib and Salem al-Khanbashi of Hadramawt, as well as military and security commanders in both provinces.
Al-Alimi instructed government, military, security and health authorities to mobilize resources to care for the wounded, honor those killed and support their families. He also stressed the need to respond to the source of the threat.
The attacks have fueled growing anger among Yemenis and calls for tougher military action rather than treating individual Houthi strikes as isolated incidents.
Supporters of that approach argue that repeated missile and drone attacks, alongside government military and security operations, warrant a more comprehensive response.
Marib under threat
Marib holds particular military, economic and humanitarian importance and is home to large numbers of displaced Yemenis. Missile and drone strikes on the city have heightened concerns for civilians, particularly if they become more frequent or expand in scope.
The province was one of the main battlegrounds between government troops and the Houthis during the war before large-scale ground fighting subsided following the 2022 truce.
Renewed strikes on government positions have raised questions over whether the Houthis will limit their campaign to long-range attacks or move toward broader ground operations.
The Yemeni government views the latest hostilities as part of wider Houthi military activity extending beyond domestic front lines, particularly amid continued attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the resulting threat to international maritime routes.
It says that simultaneous military activity inside Yemen and attacks at sea reflect the Houthis’ continued use of armed force to advance their agenda as political efforts to preserve the country’s fragile calm face mounting challenges.
