Yemen War: Taiz Fighting and Strikes on Saudi Arabia

And with us from Sana'a is Hussein Al-Bukhaiti, writer and political analyst, And with us from Riyadh is Salem Al-Yami, former adviser at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Welcome to you both, or to all our guests. We'll start with you,

Mr. Hussein Al-Bukhaiti, writer and political analyst from Sana'a, to assess the current situation on the ground for the Ansar Allah Houthis in light of these developments on the various fronts.

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The developments on the ground are that the Yemeni army here in Sana'a continues to advance in areas of Taiz, with almost nothing left except part of Taiz city, which is controlled by forces affiliated with Saudi Arabia, even since before 2022, when

the truce was signed. Also, yesterday, the Salu area was fully liberated, and the forces stationed there were allowed to leave that area after realizing there was no point in fighting in that area, through the mediation of tribal sheikhs and also the people of that area who are fighters with the Yemeni army, and so it was opened

the way and allow those forces or individuals to leave the Al-Silw area. So, in fact, the field is now under complete control of Sanaa forces. And certainly, there is news that they are spreading.

On what basis do you say that they are Saudi Arabia or follow the so-called— Mr. al-Bukhaiti, on what basis do you say the situation is under control by the Sanaa authorities, when all the reports and what the government forces say is that they have advanced on a number of fronts and taken control of the mountains of Kahbub

on the western coast, at Bab al-Mandab and Dhubab, and are now heading toward Mokha.

By God, my dear sister, these reports are the same reports that previously said they had controlled Mokha and the western coast, despite the advance of Sanaa forces into those areas and their liberation during the past two or three weeks. Also, what they say is, as I heard, I think

the correspondent said forces affiliated with the so-called legitimacy are heading toward Mokha and Al-Khokha. All this, my dear sister...

Just lies. We remember two days ago they said they had taken control of Mokha and taken control of Bab al-Mandab and were advancing toward al-Khawkhah, and now they are repeating the very same news, which proves it is merely a war,

they are trying to wage a media war and spread false news, and it is not possible that they have advanced into those areas, because if they had advanced into them, it would have been three or four days ago, as they said. So, my dear sister, what is actually happening now

is that areas of Taiz and around the city of Taiz are being liberated, and the Yemeni army is also, at the same time, targeting Saudi territory, as it targeted King Khalid Airport in Riyadh with two strikes today. Therefore, we should not take their reports as fact. The reality is lies.

Dr. Ahmed al-Jabri is our guest again, but now we go to Mr. Hussein al-Bukhaiti again, and let us discuss this escalation toward Saudi Arabia.

Why this escalation and these attacks on sites, including civilian sites, Mr. al-Bukhaiti?

My dear sister, we cannot call it an escalation, rather it is a response to escalation Saudi Arabia and an attempted attack days ago in the area of Dhubab, that attack was certainly repelled, and also the continued targeting of civilian areas in Yemen, the latest of which was the targeting in Hajjah and also the targeting

in the Yarim area, which led to the martyrdom and injury of many Yemeni citizens.

Therefore, these operations, which expanded into Saudi Arabia, had been warned of, that any Saudi escalation and any operations against Yemen would be met by Yemen, which would respond and expand its targets. This is what actually happened, by expanding the targets and declaring an air ban over

Saudi Arabia and warning airlines. In fact, Brigadier Saree warned the experts, employees, and engineers working for Aramco, as well as all shipping companies that use Saudi airspace or travel to and from Saudi airports.

Therefore, we are here, and they in Sanaa always warn before any targeting of these areas takes place. Therefore, my dear sister, also speak I only have two points for the guest, Salem, when he speaks of those who seized power and also sings the praises of legitimacy.

Let us ask, where was legitimacy in Syria? They were supporting those terrorist groups.

Yet when he says they are playing with fire and targeting civilian sites, it is good that the guest from Saudi Arabia acknowledges there are civilian sites. What about 300,000 airstrikes on Yemen?

Today, my dear sister, is the tenth anniversary of the targeting of the funeral hall, or the Grand Hall, in Sanaa, which led to the killing and injury of nearly one thousand Yemeni civilians. Saudi Arabia tried, when it carried out two strikes five minutes or six minutes apart,

to kill a larger number, but, I mean... They also later tried to accuse the Sanaa authorities, saying it was caused by the launch of a ballistic missile that failed and struck the hall. Three hundred thousand airstrikes and the killing of civilians and targeting of civilians. But the difference between Sanaa and Riyadh is that Sanaa

always announces that the next phase is oil and has warned And airlines have also warned of this, so any consequences, or any civilians who may be killed, God forbid, in any future operations, who bears responsibility for that?

Saudi Arabia, because it did not first stop its airstrikes and attack on Yemen, and because it did not comply with Yemen's declaration to close its airspace.