Houthis Report Deadly Saudi Airstrikes as Kingdom Issues Mass Alerts

6:03 PM ETDeveloping

World Desk

In Short: Saudi Arabia and the Houthis exchanged air strikes, with the Saudi-led coalition promising a firm response to Houthi attacks on urban areas in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemen’s internationally recognised government, said early on Tuesday that Houthi attacks on Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Taif caused minor to moderate injuries, damaging seven homes and two vehicles. The coalition spokesperson, Major-General Turki al-Maliki, stated, “The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition will deal with these attacks responsibly and firmly to protect the sovereignty of the kingdom.”

Later on Tuesday, the Houthis said Saudi Arabia launched 54 air raids across the governorates of Lahj, Taiz, al-Jawf, Marib, and Hajjah in the past 24 hours. The group claimed that Saudi air strikes hit the government complex in Khadir district, Taiz governorate, causing injuries. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree threatened retaliation, saying F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets operating from Saudi airbases in Khamis Mushait and Taif were used in the strikes.

The Houthis reported that the Saudi attacks killed three civilians, including two children, and injured at least two others in Taiz province’s Dhubab and Maqbanah districts. The exchanges of air attacks follow the Houthis’ rapid advance on the ground in western Yemen last week, with the group gaining control over much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and advancing to areas adjacent to the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

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The attacks come after the Iran-aligned group said on Monday that it fired dozens of missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia’s King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait, targeting hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots, in retaliation for Saudi air raids across Yemen.
Houthi and Yemeni government officials said on Monday that the Houthis had seized the Greater and Lesser Hanish islands in the southern Red Sea, about 160km (100 miles) north of the Bab al-Mandeb.
Yemen’s more than decade-long war reignited in July, as the Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia and began attacking its ships in the Red Sea, threatening a 2022 United Nations-brokered ceasefire that halted large-scale violence.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis’ rapid advance toward one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints is putting fresh scrutiny on the sprawling financial network that has helped transform the Iran-backed group from a Yemeni insurgency into a heavily armed regional power capable of threatening global trade.
Through its alliance with the Houthis, Iran is threatening almost a third of the global oil economy, said Baraa Shiban, a researcher and political analyst on Yemen and the Gulf at the Royal United Service Institute (RUSI).
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the Mecca pact would be activated in the event of an unprovoked attack on Saudi Arabia or if fighting from Yemen were to spill over into the kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia will unfortunately have to find a military option against the Houthis, whether that is limited or long-term,” Shiban said.

Sources

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