Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council Chairman Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi announced Sunday the launch of military operations to retake the remaining areas of Yemen under Houthi control and restore state authority and institutions across the country.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Alimi said the decision marked a shift from a period of preparation and readiness to a phase of liberation, after all opportunities for de-escalation had been exhausted.
In a statement to the Yemeni people, Al-Alimi said: “In accordance with our constitutional responsibility to protect the sovereignty of the republic and its citizens, and based on the decisions of the National Defense Council, I announce today the launch of military operations to retake the remaining territory of the republic and restore the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory.”
He said he had instructed the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin carrying out their assigned missions under approved plans until the country is freed from what he described as the Houthi militias.
Al-Alimi said the decision followed extensive efforts to give peace sufficient time and opportunities, while accusing the Houthis of responding to de-escalation efforts with increased mobilization and escalation, as well as expanding attacks and threats against civilians, national facilities, neighboring countries and international waterways.
He said the state was now fulfilling its national responsibility to confront the Houthis after all opportunities for de-escalation had been exhausted, citing the continued presence of weapons outside state authority and threats to citizens, the country’s sovereignty, regional security and international maritime routes.
Al-Alimi stressed that the campaign was not a war against Yemenis in Sanaa, Saada, Hodeidah, Amran, Dhamar, Ibb or any other province, nor was it a conflict against any sect or tribe.
Rather, he described it as “a battle of the state for its citizens and to restore its institutions, correct the mistakes of the past, and prevent the will or political future of its people from being taken away by force of arms.”
Addressing Yemenis living in areas under Houthi control, Al-Alimi said: “You are not the target of these operations. Your security, rights and dignity are among their most important reasons.”
He urged residents to stay away from military positions, gatherings and Houthi supply routes, and to protect their children from being drawn into the fighting.
At the same time, he renewed the government’s commitment to safe return and the declared amnesty, saying the door would remain open to anyone who lays down their weapons, stops fighting alongside the Houthis and returns to their families and homeland in accordance with announced procedures.
Al-Alimi instructed the armed forces, security forces, military formations and popular resistance forces to strictly comply with the law and protect civilians, honor and property.
He stressed that the mission was “not merely to retake territory, but to restore the state to it.”
Addressing the armed forces, he said: “No revenge, no retaliation, no attacks on innocent people and no violation of citizens’ property. Every Yemeni home is a trust, every citizen is a responsibility, and every city you retake must feel from the very first moment that it has returned to the state.”
Alongside the military operations, Al-Alimi instructed the government to prepare a parallel action plan to ensure that state institutions begin carrying out their responsibilities in every city, district and province as they are retaken.
He said priorities would include, with support from allies and partners, resuming the payment of state employees’ salaries and settling their outstanding dues retroactively, launching an urgent recovery and reconstruction program, repairing roads, electricity and water networks and damaged facilities, and creating conditions for displaced people to return and economic activity to resume.
Al-Alimi stressed that regaining territory would not mark the end of the mission, saying the success of the campaign would not be measured by the number of cities retaken, but by the number of citizens who regain security, families who return home and measures that prevent a return to violence, repression and the suppression of the people’s will.
He also renewed his full commitment to the outcome of the Saudi Arabia-sponsored southern dialogue, which he said would ensure a fair and comprehensive solution to the southern issue.
Al-Alimi acknowledged the significant sacrifices made by Yemen’s southern provinces and their people throughout the years of war.
He thanked Saudi Arabia, expressing appreciation for its support for Yemen during its most difficult circumstances, its role in helping state institutions withstand the crisis and easing the suffering of the Yemeni people, as well as its hosting of millions of Yemenis from across the country.
“The Yemeni people will preserve these positions in their national memory forever,” he said, adding that Saudi Arabia would remain a genuine partner in Yemen’s shared destiny, security, stability and peace, as well as that of the wider region.
Al-Alimi called on Arab allies, international partners and the international community to stand with Yemen, its armed forces and national institutions to end the threat and support humanitarian, economic and relief efforts, as well as recovery and reconstruction programs in areas returning to state control.
He said the government, with the support of the coalition supporting Yemen’s legitimate government, was carrying out its responsibility to protect its people, restore its institutions and safeguard waterways.
He stressed that support from allies and partners at such critical moments not only shapes the present but remains in the collective memory of nations.
“Hostilities are known, but what peoples never forget is who stood by them when they needed help, and who chose silence when their position was needed,” he said.
Al-Alimi said Yemenis had waited a long time for this decisive moment, marking the beginning of a new phase in which “the state regains its territory and institutions, citizens regain their rights, and weapons return to their rightful place under the authority of the law.”
He announced that all military, security and civilian state institutions would remain on full alert from this moment until the mission is completed and victory is achieved, citing the resolve of the armed forces, the unity of the Yemeni people and the support of allies and partners.
