Yemeni government announces military operations to retake Houthi-held areas

Yemeni government announced a large-scale military operation on Sunday to retake areas seized by the Houthis, as the Saudi-led coalition pledged continued combat support, marking one of the sharpest escalations in the country's years-long conflict.

Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, declared the launch of the operation in a televised address broadcast by Yemeni state television from the Saudi capital Riyadh, saying the government was moving "from the preparation phase to the action phase" after weeks of mobilization.

He said he had ordered the armed forces, security forces and all military formations to begin executing the plan, describing its mission as "not merely to restore the land, but to restore the state to it." Houthi fighters who lay down their weapons and stop fighting would be granted amnesty, Al-Alimi said.

The campaign comes in the wake of an intensified Houthi offensive against government forces that has seen the group capture a string of critical strategic locations, including the Red Sea port city of Mocha and Mayun Island, also known as the Perim Island. On September 11, the Yemeni government reported that Houthi fighters had seized control of the country's entire western coast and pushed their advance into the southern province of Lahj. Local officials said that by Sunday, the group had also secured several vital areas in the southwestern province of Taiz, cutting off a key road linking Taiz with the neighboring province of Lahj and the southern port city of Aden.

The Saudi-led coalition said on the same day that it would continue to provide "full operational support" for the Yemeni government and its armed forces.

In a statement, coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki accused the Houthis of "deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians and civilian objects" in Riyadh and other Saudi cities, attempting to strike the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and threatening Saudi vessels in the southern Red Sea and the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

He said the coalition would take necessary measures to curb Houthi hostilities, safeguard Saudi security and sovereignty, and eliminate the threats to freedom of maritime navigation in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Such threats, he warned, endanger not only regional and international security but also international trade, the global economy and the interests of all nations.

Yemen's conflict has entered one of its sharpest escalations in years, with heavy fighting spreading across southwestern Yemen and renewed missile, drone and air attacks reviving direct hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

Yemen's conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

Yemeni government announces military operations to retake Houthi-held areas

A large-scale immersive production recreates the smoky battlefield of how the Red Army secured an important victory against the Kuomintang forces at the Loushan Pass, a revolutionary site in Zunyi City of southwest China's Guizhou Province, in 1935 during the Long March, drawing younger generations closer to the historical event.

The Loushan Pass occupies an important place in the history of the Long March. Achieved in February 1935 after the historic Zunyi Conference in which late Chinese leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) rose to high-level military and political leadership, the battle at the Loushan Pass is widely remembered as the Red Army's first major victory since the start of the Long March and as a turning point that helped reverse a difficult military situation.

Today, what was once a battlefield is now a popular tourism destination. Twice a day, a live-action performance lasting nearly an hour recreates battle scenes. Visitors can take part in the performance, dressing in uniforms and playing roles as local residents, helping to transport supplies and tending to wounded soldiers.

A China Global Television Network (CGTN) correspondent traveled to the area and joined the immersive experience project in one episode of the special series Marching On, which retraced the original route of the Long March across several provinces to show how the enduring spirit of determination and resilience continues to inspire generations of the Chinese people as they pursue better lives through innovation and hard work.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Long March, a crucial turning point in modern Chinese history that contributed to the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The Red Army soldiers, forerunners of today's People's Liberation Army, began their strategic retreat in 1934. They endured raging rivers, snow-capped mountains, and vast grasslands -- some marching as far as 12,500 kilometers -- before finally reaching Yan'an in Shaanxi Province in northwest China in 1936, where they established the CPC headquarters before the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

Immersive red cultural experience at Loushan Pass recreates key victory in Long March