Operation Scorched Earth (Arabic: عملية الأرض المحروقة) was the code-name of a Yemeni military offensive in the northern Saada Governorate that began in August 2009, marking the fifth wave of violence in an ongoing insurgency pitting the Zaidi Shia Houthis against the government. In November 2009, fighting spilled over the border into neighboring Saudi Arabia, resulting in a Saudi military incursion into Yemen itself, the first military operation Saudi Arabia conducted since 1991.