Aden (South24 Center)

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The Iran-aligned Houthi militia has acknowledged that an unspecified security incident occurred in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa, after Saudi- and Yemeni government-aligned media circulated reports of a complex operation involving drones and possible ground activity inside the city.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a post on X on September 18 that the group’s forces had thwarted what he described as “criminal attempts in the capital Sanaa carried out by the Saudi enemy and bearing the hallmarks of ISIS.”

Saree provided no details about the nature or location of the alleged attempts but warned that they “will not go unanswered.”

In a military statement the following day, Saree again referred to “attempts by the Saudi enemy to target Sanaa through ISIS-style methods,” citing them among the reasons for Houthi missile and drone attacks on Riyadh and facilities belonging to Saudi oil giant Aramco in Yanbu.

The Houthis did not explain how the alleged operation was carried out, identify those involved or say whether it caused casualties or damage. Neither Saudi Arabia nor Yemen’s internationally recognized government has officially claimed responsibility for conducting an operation inside Sanaa.

On September 18, social media users circulated footage said to show a drone flying over Sanaa as Houthi forces opened fire in an apparent attempt to bring it down.

Similar footage published by other media outlets showed an aircraft flying at a relatively low altitude as bursts of gunfire were heard.

The footage supports reports of drone activity over the capital but does not establish that airstrikes or a ground landing operation took place.

Regional media also quoted residents as saying that drones had flown over parts of Sanaa on Friday. The Houthi militia has controlled the capital since September 2014.

Local media outlets reported that the city had witnessed a coordinated military operation conducted simultaneously from the air and on the ground. They said attack drones targeted Houthi weapons depots and command-and-control centers, while motorcycle bombs were used against other sites, including a Houthi facility in the Al-Jarraf neighborhood of northern Sanaa.

According to local media, the alleged attacks extended from Bayt Baws in southern Sanaa to Al-Jarraf and the security perimeter surrounding Sanaa International Airport in the north.

The sources also alleged that a command-and-control center in Bayt Baws was targeted during a meeting attended by Houthi leaders and Iranian military personnel. Preliminary reports said that several people attending the meeting were killed.

Independent Arabia separately reported that government-aligned media outlets and local platforms had circulated accounts of an operation targeting a Houthi command-and-control center in Sanaa amid intensive drone activity.

It said pro-government media sources identified the alleged target as a central security operations facility in the Dhahr Himyar area of Azaal District. Those accounts claimed that Houthi leaders were killed or wounded before the group imposed tight security measures around the site.

Other platforms went further, alleging that elite Yemeni and Saudi forces had been inserted by helicopter and had captured Iranian experts and advisers before transferring them to Riyadh.

No independently verifiable official evidence has emerged to support these claims.

In a different account, Al-Araby TV’s correspondent in Sanaa cited media reports of drone activity and a possible suicide attack targeting a security facility. This account differs from claims of a helicopter-borne landing operation.

Some Saudi media outlets said the aircraft seen over Sanaa was a SKYWASP drone, locally known as “Sky Wasp,” and linked it to the “Aiban” and “Nuqum” systems recently unveiled by Yemeni government forces.

However, Yemen’s Defense Ministry and other official government bodies have not confirmed that their forces carried out the reported flights or strikes.

South24 Center could not independently verify the alleged ground landing operation, the deployment of airborne forces, the reported motorcycle-bomb attacks, casualty figures or claims that Iranian military personnel were killed or captured.

The reports emerged amid a sharp escalation between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia. The group said its missile and drone attacks on Riyadh and Yanbu on September 19 were partly in response to the alleged operation in Sanaa.

Reuters reported that the Houthis described their attacks on Saudi Arabia as retaliation for an attack in the Yemeni capital, without providing further details. The Associated Press also noted the Houthi accusation but said it could not independently verify it.

Saudi authorities confirmed intercepting a Houthi missile fired toward Riyadh but made no reference in their statements to conducting an operation inside Sanaa.

The Houthi acknowledgment that unspecified “attempts” occurred in the capital lends some weight to reports of an unusual security incident, but it does not substantiate the most significant allegations in circulation.