Dozens of drones and missiles launched by the Houthis targeted four cities in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, injuring 73 people and causing fires at energy infrastructures. Riyadh has promised to retaliate.
The strikes hit Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran. According to the spokesperson of the Saudi-led Arab coalition, General Turki al-Maliki, women and children are among the injured. The Saudi Ministry of Energy confirmed that several energy sector facilities were targeted, causing fires and « a temporary halt to some operations. »
General al-Maliki described these attacks as a « dangerous escalation confirming the hostile and irresponsible approach of this terrorist militia » and announced that the coalition would take « all necessary operational measures » to neutralize the group.
The Houthis, supported by Iran, claim these strikes as a response to Saudi military operations. Their military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, states that the Saudi army conducted more than 120 air raids in three days on the Yemeni provinces of Marib, al-Bayda, Hudayda, Taiz, and Jawf. He also accuses Riyadh of bombing a prison in the city of al-Hazm on Monday, killing at least eleven people and leaving twenty detainees missing under the rubble.
This resurgence of violence is part of a rapidly deteriorating dynamic since July, when the Houthis announced a « maritime embargo » against Saudi Arabia and resumed attacks on airports, oil facilities, and tankers in the Red Sea. They cited a Saudi blockade of their ports and airports, as well as a strike on Sanaa airport.
Since Thursday, heavy fighting has taken place on Yemen’s southwestern coast, where the Houthis launched an offensive to seize the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic passage between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. These clashes reportedly caused more than 300 deaths and displaced 18,500 people.
The Red Sea has gained increased importance for Saudi oil exports since the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran effectively led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf. The Arab coalition, engaged alongside the Yemeni government for over a decade, faces a situation that threatens to widely spill over the borders of the Yemeni conflict.
