At least 35 soldiers killed in Yemen in one of the largest Houthi attacks since 2022

At least 35 soldiers were killed this Thursday in missile and drone attacks launched by the Houthi Shiite rebels against positions of government forces in the eastern provinces of Hadramaut and Marib -controlled by the internationally recognized Yemeni government-, military sources informed EFE.

Sources indicated that the insurgents launched at least nine ballistic missiles and an undetermined number of drones against military bases of the Yemeni Armed Forces west of Hadramaut and Marib.

This is one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the rebel group against the internationally recognized government since the UN-brokered truce that came into effect in 2022.

So far the rebels have not commented, but their military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, announced an imminent statement from the Houthi Armed Forces to communicate “a broad and qualitative military operation.”

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Previously, in a statement, the Yemen Emergency Forces, military and security formations supported by Saudi Arabia, had denounced attacks against “several military camps and units of the Yemeni government Armed Forces,” including their own positions in the Al Ruwaik area, in Hadramaut, causing “material and human losses.”

The attacks occur amidst a sharp escalation of the conflict in Yemen after the Houthis have claimed repeated missile and drone attacks in recent weeks against maritime targets linked to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea.

Military and security measures

Meanwhile, the internationally recognized Yemeni government has announced a series of military and security measures aimed at countering the Iran-backed group.

The Yemeni civil war broke out after the Houthis took the capital, Sanaa, in late 2014, which triggered a Saudi-led military intervention the following year in support of the Government.

Currently, Yemen’s main land fronts have remained practically frozen since a UN-mediated truce came into effect in April 2022, even though the agreement formally expired six months later.

The Houthis continue to control Sanaa and most of the north and northwest, densely populated areas, while forces aligned with the internationally recognized government dominate much of the south and east, where these attacks have taken place.

Tensions on those fronts have intensified in 2026, especially as the broader confrontation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia has escalated.