The official spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced on 20 March that the army will carry out a major offensive that aims to break the Saudi-led siege on Yemen.

“The Yemeni armed forces will carry out special military operations to break the brutal siege. The strikes will be against critical and sensitive targets, which the enemy could never imagine,” Saree said in the briefing.

“The Yemeni army warns the criminal enemy of the consequences of its oppressive siege on the country’s economic facilities and projects. Yemeni armed forces have always declared they will strike at the strategic and sensitive areas within the countries of the Saudi-led coalition, for as long as the siege persists,” he added.

The briefing came after a drone and missile attack launched by the Ansarallah resistance movement on Saudi Arabia’s energy and water desalination facilities.

The strikes targeted an Aramco distribution terminal in Saudi Arabia’s southern Jizan region, as well as other sites in Riyadh, Yanbu, Abha, Khamis Mushait, Samtah, and Dhahran al-Janub.

Saree confirmed the attacks were part of a large-scale offensive dubbed Operation Breaking the Siege II, saying that the attacks hit deep within the kingdom’s territory and used domestically produced missiles and drones.

“The Saudi enemy has been warned that the focused strikes of the Yemeni Armed Forces against vital targets have started to break the blockade on Yemen. The Armed Forces will not hesitate to expand the bank of targets during the next stage,” Saree said, adding that Yemen’s army has access to “a large number of vital target coordinates that may be used at any moment.”

Over 13,000 military operations have been launched by the Yemeni Armed Forces throughout the seven years of war, Saree confirmed, adding that the Yemeni attacks have claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Saudi soldiers, 1,200 UAE soldiers, and around 253,000 mercenaries fighting on behalf of the coalition.

Saree reiterated that the coming offensive will include the targeting of “sensitive” locations within Saudi Arabia that will “surprise” the kingdom and will aid in breaking the Saudi-led siege on Yemen.