Sheba Intelligence has obtained exclusive details of a complex preemptive operation carried out deep inside Houthi-controlled Sanaa early Friday, targeting a secret communications network used by the group. Sources said the operation was launched to foil a major attack that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was planning to carry out against Saudi Arabia from Yemen.

Sources familiar with the operation told Sheba Intelligence that the mission, codenamed “In the Heart of the Enemy,”combined simultaneous aerial and ground components.

According to the sources, drones were used to identify and track nodes linked to a fiber-optic communications network, while a ground team targeted a main communications room connected to the same system.

The operation killed four Iranian experts associated with the targeted communications network, the sources said, amid information that senior Houthi figures working within the group’s communications apparatus were present at the site at the time of the operation.

The targeted network represents a sensitive component of the Houthis’ communications and command infrastructure. Mohammed Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, brother of Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi, has been linked to oversight of the group’s military communications portfolio, alongside an internal apparatus known as “Jihadi Communications,” which handles the group’s sensitive internal communications.

It remains unclear whether Mohammed Hussein al-Houthi or other senior Houthi figures within the “Jihadi Communications” apparatus were among those killed in the operation.

Preemptive Operation to Foil an Attack on Saudi Arabia

Sources told Sheba Intelligence that targeting the communications network was part of a broader preemptive operation aimed at disrupting preparations for a major attack against Saudi Arabia.

According to the sources, IRGC personnel were directly involved in planning and preparing the attack from inside Yemen, while the communications infrastructure targeted during the Sanaa operation formed part of the system supporting command and coordination.

The communications infrastructure was therefore not an isolated target. According to the sources, it was struck to disrupt the command-and-communications architecture linked to preparations for the planned attack against Saudi Arabia.

Sheba Intelligence is withholding further operational details at this stage concerning the intended targets inside Saudi Arabia and the capabilities that had been prepared for the attack.

“Sky Wasp” Over Sanaa

The new information provides a broader picture of events that Sheba Intelligence had documented as they unfolded on Friday.

On September 18, Sheba Intelligence reported the first operational appearance over Sanaa of the long-range SKYWASP, known as the “Sky Wasp.”

Video footage analyzed by the platform showed the drone flying over the Yemeni capital. A military source said at the time that drone operations began before dawn and continued through Friday, targeting positions around Sanaa, including areas around Aiban and Nuqum, as well as sites associated with air defenses, weapons storage, missiles and drones.

At the time, the visible drone activity appeared to constitute an aerial operation around the capital. However, information subsequently obtained by Sheba Intelligence indicates that part of the aerial activity coincided with a ground operation targeting the communications system inside Sanaa, revealing that the scope of the operation was broader than initially apparent.

Taiz Strikes and Cyberattack

The Sanaa operation came amid a series of attacks and disruptions affecting Yemen’s communications infrastructure.

Communications facilities in Taiz, including sites in Al-Dhikrah, Al-Hawban and Al-Rahida, were struck during roughly the same period.

Reports also emerged of a cyberattack targeting telecommunications networks under Houthi control and gaining access to cloud storage systems, causing disruptions to communications and internet services.

The timing places three developments within a narrow operational window: physical strikes against communications infrastructure in Taiz, a cyberattack affecting telecommunications systems, and an aerial-ground operation in Sanaa that, according to Sheba Intelligence sources, reached a main communications room linked to the Houthi network.

The convergence takes on greater significance in light of the new information that “In the Heart of the Enemy” was a preemptive operation aimed at disrupting preparations for a major attack planned by the IRGC against Saudi Arabia.