Yemen’s Armed Forces have imposed a no-fly zone over Riyadh following a massive assault by Saudi Arabia using 100 aircraft, combined with a shock offensive aimed at capturing Bab el-Mandeb. In this Monday’s edition of The Target, MintPress News’ Robert Inlakesh breaks down the conflict on the ground and why the US-Israeli backed surprise attack is a failure.
In the early hours of Monday morning, Saudi Arabia carried out over 1,000 airstrikes across Yemeni territory, in what would soon be declared by the Kingdom’s proxy forces as Operation Yemen’s Dawn. The attempted offensive, which has already collapsed, sought to seize the Western coast of the country from the rule of the Ansarallah-led government based in Sana’a.
Forces belonging to the Salafist-dominated Southern Giants Brigades, alongside allied Saudi-backed militias, initiated a series of ambush attacks which succeeded in penetrating the strategic Bab el-Mandeb area. Backed up by the airpower of their allies in Riyadh, they inflicted scores of casualties amongst soldiers belonging to the Yemeni Armed Forces and even filmed themselves committing ramming attacks on fighters who had already surrendered.
On the Target Stream, we take a look at the Yemeni retaliatory attacks on Saudi Arabia’s airbases, oil refineries and even the missile fire that has sought to impose a no-fly zone on the Kingdom. Robert Inlakesh also breaks down the conflict in Yemen and the context behind the two warring sides.
An enormous amount of propaganda has created a shield behind which the Gulf Monarchies, United States and Israel hide in this war. This includes everything from the spread of sectarian propaganda, unsubstantiated allegations of Yemeni missile attacks on Holy Sites, as well as claims that the Bab el-Mandeb Strait will be closed to international shipping. In reality, only Saudi Arabia has been subjected to a blockade in the Red Sea so far, while the other potential target could be Israel assuming it resumes its genocide in Gaza or launches another major assault on Lebanon.
We also look at Yemen’s use of strategic precision-guided ballistic missiles, both long and short range, that are being used to destroy militant convoys and successfully target Saudi ARAMCO facilities.
The capture of Bab el-Mandeb and the entire West coast of Yemen collapsed part of Israel’s strategic foothold developed in Red Sea and Horn of Africa, as the Ansarallah-led government forces now control the Mayyun Island where a joint Emirati-Israeli project was uncovered in 2025.
In a new joint statement, Pakistan and Turkiye have now declared their intentions to enter the war on Yemen on the side of Saudi Arabia. This includes sending more weapons, fighter jets, air defense systems and troops to aid Riyadh. The recently signed ‘Mecca Pact’ agreement was previously advertised as a defence alliance that could represent a new ‘Sunni Muslim NATO’, yet is now fighting a war against a Muslim country using Israeli targeting data to do so.
Inlakesh also analyses the question of regional national sovereignty, using the case of Iraq’s recent detention of its own citizens for driving vehicles over an American flag at a parade. He explores the ways in which the US continue to exert pressure on Baghdad, holding their leadership hostage financially.
US imperialism and Israeli expansionism is on the line in Yemen, making it an important and the most active front in the ongoing regional war. It is a battle for national sovereignty, control of strategic water-ways and to end decades of aggression.
