Fighting Escalates in Yemen as Houthis, Saudi-Backed Forces Trade Attacks

Fighting has escalated across Yemen, with the country’s internationally recognised government accusing the Houthis of killing three children in an artillery attack, while Saudi Arabia accused the Iran-backed group of continuing to target the kingdom’s infrastructure.

According to Al Jazeera, the claims came on Wednesday as the Houthis threatened to retaliate after accusing Saudi Arabia of carrying out 54 airstrikes across Yemen in a 12-hour period.

The renewed hostilities between Saudi-backed government forces and the Houthis are unfolding amid rising regional tensions linked to the United States and Israel’s war on Iran. Pakistan has warned that continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia could trigger the recently signed Mecca Joint Defence Agreement involving Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan.

According to the World Health Organization, the latest clashes have killed or wounded more than 1,000 people and displaced tens of thousands.

Government-run Saba news reported that at least three children, including a baby, were killed in Houthi shelling in the central Marib governorate on Wednesday, while six others were wounded. The agency said it was the second such attack in 48 hours.

The first assault reportedly killed two children and wounded 15 others.

The Houthis did not immediately comment on the allegation but said the death toll from what they described as a Saudi attack on a prison in the northern al-Jawf governorate had risen to at least 32, with seven others wounded.

Yemen has been embroiled in conflict since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. The takeover prompted a Saudi-led military intervention the following year and a devastating war that killed an estimated 150,000 people.

A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 halted large-scale fighting, but clashes resumed in July following a strike by government forces on the Houthi-held Sanaa airport.

The Houthis subsequently launched a major offensive in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces, seeking to advance towards the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a critical maritime route for Saudi oil exports. The offensive prompted government-aligned forces to launch counterattacks and expand operations elsewhere, including in al-Jawf, which is regarded as a gateway to Sanaa.

The fighting has also spilled into Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Major General Turki al-Maliki, said on Wednesday that the Houthis were “persisting” in attacks on the kingdom’s assets and infrastructure, alleging that the group had targeted Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jazan with ballistic missiles and drones.

He vowed that the coalition would respond to what he described as the Houthis’ “heinous attacks”.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defence authority also issued multiple alerts for Khamis Mushait and Abha on Wednesday and early Thursday, although no casualties were reported in connection with the alerts.

Earlier, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said Saudi forces had launched 54 airstrikes across six provinces over 12 hours on Wednesday, targeting al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and al-Bayda.

Saree did not say whether the strikes caused casualties but claimed the aircraft involved had taken off from King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base in Taif.

“These air strikes and the ongoing aggression against our country will not go unanswered and unpunished, by the will and power of God,” Saree said.

The Houthi-affiliated Saba news agency reported on Thursday that Saudi forces had launched an additional 40 airstrikes on the governorates of Taiz, Hodeidah, al-Jawf and Marib.

Yemeni military sources later told Reuters that the Houthis had seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mokha, potentially giving the group greater leverage over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The claim could not be independently verified.

The Houthis had on Tuesday claimed that Saudi forces carried out 121 airstrikes on Houthi-controlled territory in the preceding days, including the strike on the prison in al-Jawf. The group said it retaliated by targeting Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran and Jizan, as well as the Economic City and Khamis Mushait Air Base.

Saudi officials said Tuesday that recent Houthi attacks had wounded at least 73 people.

Separately, Yemeni government-aligned forces said they continued advancing in al-Jawf for a third consecutive day, reaching the vicinity of Bir al-Maraziq and claiming to have severed Houthi supply lines in the area.

The forces also said they had attacked Houthi positions in Taiz and sent additional reinforcements to support the anti-Houthi National Resistance forces along Yemen’s western coast.

Those claims could not be independently confirmed.

Amid the escalation, Pakistani officials reiterated that any attack on Saudi Arabia could activate the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan last month to strengthen collective deterrence against future attacks.

“If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told local media.

Iran, meanwhile, criticised a statement by Arab League foreign ministers condemning what they described as “Iranian violations of Yemen’s sovereignty”.

Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “completely rejects the claims regarding Iran’s interference in the affairs of Yemen,” adding that it had “consistently emphasised the need to preserve Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity”.

It also said Iran had supported Yemeni-led dialogue based on a UN-backed roadmap.