🇸🇦 🇾🇪 🇾🇪 Saudis plan assault on Houthis to break Red Sea chokehold

More than 100,000 Yemeni troops could ⁠be mobilized in the offensive, depending on the scale, the officials all said.

Riyadh has concluded it cannot enter new Yemeni peace negotiations with the Houthis while the ​militants remain in control of Bab el-Mandeb, giving them significant global leverage, the Western diplomats and Gulf official said.

The six people with knowledge of the Saudi preparations couldn't give a precise timing for the launch of the offensive, with their estimates ranging from within a week to until after the US midterm elections in early November.

Pakistan has deployed between 30,000 and 40,000 troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom's land borders and help with drone and missile interceptions, according to the second Pakistani official, who said the troops arrived ​in waves beginning last year but also after the recent escalation. Islamabad hasn't made any decision to send troops into Yemen in a fighting capacity, the official said.

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/saudis-plan-assault-houthis-break-red-sea-chokehold-2026-10-02/