Yemen's ambassador to Germany briefs SPD lawmaker Adis Ahmetovic on the Dawn of Yemen offensive

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BERLIN, Germany — Yemen’s ambassador to Germany briefed a German lawmaker on the government’s new military offensive and its efforts to rebuild state institutions, the state news agency Saba said.

Louay al-Eryani met Adis Ahmetovic, a member of the Bundestag and foreign policy spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party parliamentary group, Saba reported on Wednesday.

The account of the meeting rests on Saba, Yemen’s state news agency. No independent confirmation has been published, and Yemen Herald could not verify it.

Al-Eryani stressed the importance of continued German support for Yemen’s government and people, according to the agency.

He described Operation Dawn of Yemen to the lawmaker. The ambassador said it aims to end what he called an Iran-backed Houthi coup, restore state institutions and extend state sovereignty across the country.

The Houthis dispute the government’s account of the conflict and of the offensive’s progress.

Al-Eryani also raised what he described as Houthi violations against civilians, Saba said. The agency gave no figures and named no incidents.

Ahmetovic expressed interest in developments in Yemen, according to Saba. It said he reaffirmed his support for Yemen’s government and people and called for continued contact between the two countries.

Al-Eryani was sworn in as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Germany on Feb. 10, 2025, Yemen’s foreign ministry says. The ceremony took place at the Yemeni embassy in Riyadh before President Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council.

The offensive the ambassador described began early on Monday. Al-Alimi announced it in a televised speech the previous day and named it Dawn of Yemen in a post on X, according to reporting by The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.

Al-Alimi said the aim was recovering the remaining territories held by the Houthis and liberating Sanaa.

Government forces moved under air cover from the Saudi-led coalition. Yemeni officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said troops retook Dhubab, north of the Bab al-Mandab strait, and captured Bab and Hadeid.

Witnesses said they saw government tanks and troops entering the towns.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, the coalition spokesman, said 100 fighter jets supported the advance and that the coalition had secured air protection of the strait. The coalition’s account has not been independently confirmed.

Yahya Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said in a pre-recorded statement that his forces fired ballistic and cruise missiles and drones at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, the Rabigh refinery and Abha airport.

The Houthis also claimed territory in southwestern Yemen. The group’s media office reported airstrikes on areas it controls, including Sanaa.

The World Health Organization recorded at least 959 people killed and more than 4,200 wounded in the latest violence.

The UN migration agency said about 174,097 people had been displaced inside Yemen. It said more than 3,000 had crossed into Djibouti.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said on Oct. 6 that Houthi authorities had referred at least eight people working in human rights and humanitarian roles for criminal prosecution since Aug. 18.

The eight include two UN employees, a UN consultant and five staff of international and local civil society organisations, the two groups said. They were transferred to the Specialized Criminal Prosecution in Sanaa.

The charges are espionage and aiding the enemy under articles 127 and 128 of Yemen’s penal code. Both carry the death penalty.

Some detainees told relatives they had been forced to confess under torture or threats of torture, according to the two organisations.

Seventy-two UN staff remained in Houthi detention as of Oct. 5, along with dozens of humanitarian and civil society workers, Human Rights Watch said. All are Yemeni nationals.

The World Food Programme said on Oct. 5 that one of its staff members had been released. The Houthi authorities have not commented on the prosecutions.

The detentions followed raids that began on May 31, 2024 and swept up 13 UN staff and at least 50 workers from Yemeni and international organisations, Human Rights Watch said. The two groups say more than 100 such staff have been held over the past two years.

Two of those held, Sami Kallabi and Labib Shayef, were arrested on June 6, 2024, Human Rights Watch said.

A World Food Programme aid worker died in Houthi custody on Feb. 11, 2025.

Germany provided 50 million euros in development cooperation and more than 25 million euros in humanitarian assistance, its foreign office says. The office describes Germany as one of the largest bilateral donors to Yemen in 2025.

The German foreign office says only a very limited number of humanitarian projects operate in areas the Houthis control. It says the restriction protects staff and is meant to keep the group from gaining strength.

Germany supports UN-led efforts to settle the conflict, including the work of the Office of the Special Envoy for Yemen, according to the foreign office.

The UN humanitarian plan for 2026 counts more than 22 million people in Yemen in need of assistance. It records 18.3 million as acutely food insecure and lists 5.2 million internally displaced.

The plan counts more than 2.2 million children under five as acutely malnourished, 516,157 of them severely. It seeks 2.16 billion dollars to reach 12 million people.