Sanaa [Yemen], March 29 (ANI): Yemen's Houthis on Sunday announced a 'second military operation' targeting Israel in a significant escalation of the ongoing West Asia conflict, using a barrage of cruise missiles and drones against what it described as 'vital and military sites' in southern occupied Palestine.

In a statement posted on Telegram, Yahya Saree, the Houthis' military spokesperson, said that the operation was launched as part of the 'Holy Jihad Battle' and coincided with military actions by allied groups, including forces in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon. He added that the second operation 'successfully achieved its objectives.'

'Forces carried out the second military operation in the 'Holy Jihad Battle' with a barrage of cruise missiles and drones targeting several vital and military sites belonging to the Zionist enemy in southern occupied Palestine. This operation coincided with the military operations being carried out by our mujahideen brothers in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and, by the grace of Allah, it successfully achieved its objectives,' the statement read.

This comes moments after the Iranian-backed group in Yemen officially joined the conflict in the region, earlier on Saturday.

The group, in a statement, said it had carried out its first military operation against Israeli military sites using a barrage of ballistic missiles, also describing it as coordinated with resistance efforts in Iran and Lebanon.

In that statement, the Houthis vowed that their operations 'will continue until the declared objectives are achieved' and until what they termed 'aggression against all fronts of the resistance ceases'.

This development comes as diplomatic engagements between Washington and Tehran continue amid the conflict in West Asia, following US-Israel joint military strikes on Iran on February 28, which led to the death of 86-year-old Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after which Tehran, in retaliation, targeted Israel and US assets in several Gulf countries, causing disruption in the waterways and affecting international energy markets and global economic stability. (ANI)