Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia wound 73 civilians, coalition says
The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Tuesday that Houthi rebels launched attacks on Saudi Arabia, wounding 73 civilians. The coalition, which has supported Yemen's internationally recognised government since 2015, vowed to respond to the attacks, calling them senseless acts by the Iranian-backed movement.
In a formal statement, the coalition's Joint Forces Command said the attacks targeted "civilian and economic sites" and resulted in injuries to 73 people. The command described the attackers as the "terrorist Houthi militia" and said it would "take all necessary measures and actions to respond to the sources of the threat and neutralise its danger." It did not specify the exact locations hit or the type of weapons used.
Houthi-run media, including the Ansarollah site, said the rebels had attacked Abha International Airport, King Khalid air base and Saudi Aramco oil facilities in the southern provinces of Abha and Jizan. The claims could not be independently verified. Saudi Arabia did not immediately confirm the reports.
The assaults came a day after Houthi officials accused Saudi-led air forces of striking Yemen, including a raid on a prison in the northern town of Al-Hazm. Hassan Saboula, director-general of civil defence in Jawf province, told the Houthi-affiliated Almasirah TV channel that the bombing killed at least 11 people and left 20 detainees missing under the debris. In a separate report, the Houthi-run Saba news agency said a child visiting the prison was among the dead. These accounts could not be independently checked.
The latest attacks and counter-charges are a sign of the escalating conflict that has wracked Yemen for years. In July, after a period of relative calm, hostilities resumed between the Houthis and forces loyal to the government. The Houthis have since pushed forward on the western Red Sea coast, trying to capture territory near the Bab al-Mandab strait, a crucial waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.
According to regional reports, days of fighting along the coast have killed more than 300 people and displaced many families. The strait has become especially important for Saudi oil exports since Iran imposed a blockade on the Strait of Hormuz during the US-Iran war. Saudi Arabia has been forced to use alternative routes, making the Bab al-Mandab a critical point of strategic interest, as it also carries global trade between Asia and Europe.
The conflict pits the Houthi movement, which controls Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, against Yemen's internationally recognised government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition. The coalition has conducted air strikes across Yemen in support of the government, while the Houthis have repeatedly fired across the border. The long-running war has caused widespread suffering in Yemen, one of the Arab world's poorest countries.
With the coalition vowing retaliation, the likelihood of more bloodshed remains high. No political talks are active, and the pattern of attacks suggests that civilians on all sides will continue to bear the brunt of the conflict. Calls for restraint from the international community have so far yielded little, and the humanitarian situation in Yemen remains dire.
