Rashad Al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council, used a televised address to announce on 04 October 2026 that comprehensive military operations against the Houthis had begun.
Military and security forces in Yemen’s regions and provinces were ordered to carry out tasks under the plan. State institutions were placed on high alert until state authority and the rule of law are restored.
Al-Alimi said the leadership had moved from preparation to active engagement after exhausting opportunities for de-escalation. He said the Houthis had continued to mobilise, intensify hostilities and threaten civilians, national infrastructure, regional neighbours and international shipping lanes during the period of restraint.
The military spokesman, Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili, said the campaign was intended to “recover all state territory, assert national sovereignty and end Houthi control” in the areas held by the group.
The announcement follows a conflict that began when the Houthis seized Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to back the internationally recognised government.
A truce agreed in 2022 temporarily stopped fighting between the sides. It collapsed in July 2026, after which hostilities escalated.
In September 2026, a Houthi offensive took the west coast from the government. Government representatives said the group also captured the rest of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and islands near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have attacked shipping and Israel.
Al-Alimi ordered military and security forces to follow the rule of law strictly and to protect civilians and private property. He said the operations were not aimed at the populations of particular governorates or at any sect or tribe.
The state repeated an offer of amnesty to those who put down their weapons and stop fighting for the Houthis. Al-Nuzaili urged Houthi fighters to return home, saying that “the homeland has room for all its sons who return to the right path”.
He also praised “the brotherly and steadfast positions of our brothers in the coalition supporting legitimacy, who stand with the interests of Yemen and its people”.
The government has been tasked with an immediate recovery programme for areas it retakes. Its plans include paying overdue public-sector salaries, repairing water and power grids, and helping displaced people return safely.
The renewed campaign begins amid a severe humanitarian crisis. More than 22 million people need assistance in Yemen in 2026, while a UNDP model estimated 377,000 deaths by the end of 2021, nearly 60% of them indirect.
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