Saudi-led coalition: ‘Qualitative operation’ aims to restore

The spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition, Col. Turki Al-Maliki, said that the “qualitative operation” against the Houthis is a continuation of the ongoing operations to restore legitimacy in Yemen.
On Friday, in his first television interview since taking office, Al-Maliki said that in the past there were signs and indicators of movement and reinforcement of the Houthis and their cohorts to infiltrate the Saudi border.
He added that the Kingdom has had to carry out an operation to protect the joint military units that took defensive positions to protect citizens and residents of the villages and cities, as well as resources and vital areas of the Kingdom.
He added that the Houthis, who suffered many casualties, have carried out hostile and brutal operations which violated international and humanitarian law.
In answer to a question about the mechanisms and tools used in the operations, Al-Maliki said that “as an alliance, we have all the tools and capabilities, both in terms of monitoring Houthi or Republican Guard unit movements.”
“We have a continuous mechanism in assessing the operational position on the ground. For example, we have used 24-hour intelligence systems to monitor both the Yemeni interior and the Saudi border,” he said.
He added that “we monitor movements, whether on foot or supply lines to Saudi villages and cities,” adding that “we have all the capacities as an alliance, and thus, the coalition is creating a balance and imposing options on the ground.”
On details of the targets, he said, “It is not clear to everyone why the Houthi gunmen and the Republican Guard are using methods of guerilla warfare or what is known as irregular war.”
“This requires follow-up and targeting and use of what is known as tactical patience,” he said.
Noting the diversity of targets in the past such as cutting off the supply lines toward the border before reaching Saudi Arabia, he said that “there were many targeting of Houthi infiltrators, whether they were on foot, used cars or even motorcycles.”
On the possibility of announcing more of these qualitative operations in the coming days, he said: “Operations are continuing, but the more important question is ‘when will the coupists (Houthis) want a peaceful solution?’”