Yemen’s Houthi group on Sunday claimed Saudi Arabia had carried out 58 airstrikes across six provinces in 24 hours, as fighting intensified between the Iran-backed group and Saudi-supported Yemeni government forces.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the strikes targeted Taiz, Lahj, Al-Jawf, Saada, Hajjah and Al-Bayda. The group also reported strikes on Saada and a market in Al-Jawf, along with artillery fire near the border. Saudi Arabia has not confirmed the claims or reported casualties.
The latest strikes follow a Houthi offensive launched on September 3 that captured several government-held areas along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, including the strategic port of Mocha, parts of the Bab al-Mandab area and Mayun Island.
The advances have strengthened Houthi control over the key shipping chokepoint and pushed fighting closer to Aden, the seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government.
The Houthis also claimed a missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s Sharurah military base, targeting weapons depots and command centres. Saudi civil defence said two people were injured after a projectile landed in Jizan.
The renewed fighting has displaced nearly 86,000 people, according to the International Organization for Migration, with more than 2,000 reaching Djibouti.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 after the Houthis seized Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015, with a UN-brokered ceasefire largely halting major fighting in 2022 before hostilities resumed in July.
