Yemen’s Houthi rebels have accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out more than 50 airstrikes against their positions within 24 hours, as fighting between the Iran-backed group and Saudi-supported government forces intensifies.
The Houthis claimed that 58 Saudi airstrikes were conducted during the period, including attacks on their strongholds in Saada and Al-Jawf provinces. Saudi Arabia has not publicly confirmed the reported strikes.
The latest escalation follows a renewed offensive by the Houthis, who this week claimed responsibility for a major missile and drone assault on a Saudi military base.
The group said the attack targeted weapons depots and command-and-control facilities at the Sharurah military base in southern Saudi Arabia.
Saudi authorities reported that a projectile fired by the Houthis landed in the Jizan region late Saturday, injuring two people. Civil defence authorities also issued temporary alerts for Abha and the surrounding Khamis Mushait area on Sunday.
The latest fighting comes amid a sharp deterioration in Yemen’s fragile security situation, with the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces returning to open hostilities after years of relative calm.
The conflict began in 2014 when the Houthis seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and forced the internationally recognised government from power. Saudi Arabia subsequently led a military coalition that intervened in 2015 before a United Nations-brokered truce helped reduce large-scale fighting in 2022.
The renewed violence has also triggered a fresh displacement crisis.
The International Organization for Migration says nearly 86,000 people have been displaced by the latest fighting, with more than 2,000 Yemenis crossing into neighbouring Djibouti as some residents flee the country altogether.
The Houthis have also claimed that more than 100 strikes have targeted their positions since Tuesday, although those figures remain independently unverified.
The latest escalation is further complicating security around the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s key maritime trade routes.
Yemen’s conflict has already left hundreds of thousands dead and created one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises.
The renewed hostilities are also unfolding against the backdrop of a wider Middle East conflict, raising concerns that Yemen could become another major front in the expanding regional confrontation.
