Operation 'Yemen Dawn': Saudi-led coalition joins fight to wrest Red Sea from Houthis

Members of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces patrol a road leading to a frontline of clashes with Iran-aligned Houthi fighters. Yemen's internationally recognised government has launched a major military campaign called “Yemen Dawn” against Iran-backed Houthi rebels, with a Saudi-led coalition providing air support as the rebels make fresh territorial gains along the country's Red Sea coast.Presidential Leadership Council chairman Rashad al-Alimi said the operation was aimed at “restoring state institutions, liberating" Sanaa, Yemen's rebel-controlled capital, and ending "the Houthi terrorist militia coup.”Saudi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the coalition was providing “full operational support” to government forces. He said around 100 fighter jets were supporting the campaign and that the coalition had established “air protection” over the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.The coalition also claimed to have destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets. Those claims could not be independently verified.Smoke rises from the site of an airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen October 4, 2026. Picture taken with a mobile phone. (Reuters photo)Why has 'Yemen Dawn' been launchedThe oper...