Saudi-led coalition says Houthi attacks injure 73 civilians

The Riyadh-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally-recognized government announced Tuesday that a series of Houthi attacks injured 73 civilians in southwestern Saudi Arabia, vowing to respond to the Iran-aligned group.

The coalition’s official spokesman, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, said the Houthi attacks, the latest of which targeted civilian and economic sites in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, had injured 73 civilians, including women and children.

He described the attacks as a “blatant violation” of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and said the coalition’s Joint Forces Command would take “all necessary operational measures” to deter the Houthis.

Earlier, the Houthi-run Ansar Allah website reported that the group had struck targets in southern Saudi Arabia.

The Ansar Allah movement said on Telegram that “Yemeni drones and missiles are pounding the Saudi enemy.”

In a separate post, it claimed the attacks targeted Abha Airport, King Khalid Air Base and facilities belonging to Saudi Aramco in Abha and Jazan.

On Monday, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes and cruise missile attacks on the Yemeni provinces of Al-Jawf, Al-Bayda, Marib and Taiz, amid escalating clashes between the group and government forces backed by the Saudi-led military coalition.

Fighting in Yemen has intensified in what has become the country’s fiercest confrontation since the collapse of a truce between the two sides in 2022.

Since Thursday, the Iran-aligned Houthis have launched a ground offensive alongside missile and drone attacks on coastal areas overlooking the Red Sea and areas around Taiz.

The group has sought to advance toward areas near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait controlled by the Saudi-backed government.

Clashes between Yemeni government forces and Houthis in southwestern Yemen have killed more than 300 people in recent days, forcing many families to flee their homes.

Yemen returned to the forefront of regional escalation in July as hostilities between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia resumed amid the war between the United States and Iran.

The confrontation began after the Houthis accused Riyadh of bombing Sanaa Airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing there.
The group later announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia and resumed attacks on its tankers and oil facilities, effectively ending the 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

In August, Yemen’s government warned that the Houthis were planning to seize the Bab al-Mandab coast, potentially threatening another vital shipping route after Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz following US strikes on Iran that led to the outbreak of the Middle East war.

The Houthis do not directly control the coastal areas overlooking Bab al-Mandab.

However, they control the port city of Hodeidah, north of Mokha, and have repeatedly attacked Saudi vessels in the Red Sea in recent weeks.