Saudi strikes in Yemen: one dead and infrastructure targeted amid escalation

Saudi strikes in Yemen killed one person on Thursday and targeted telecommunications towers, according to the Almasirah channel affiliated with the pro-Iranian Houthis, who are fighting the Yemeni government supported by Riyadh.

“Saudi enemy aircraft targeted three telecommunications towers” ​​in the province of Taiz (southwest), while “one civilian was killed and another injured” in other strikes further north, in the town of Abs, the television channel said.

The Houthis have reported dozens of strikes carried out daily by Riyadh in response to their blitzkrieg offensive last week. In just a few days, anti-government fighters took control of the Yemeni coastline bordering the Red Sea and thus strengthened their hold on the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects Europe to Asia via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

The Houthis assure that there is no threat to navigation in the maritime corridor, except for ships from Saudi Arabia, the world's leading exporter of crude. On Wednesday, Riyadh accused the pro-Iranian movement of having launched a “cowardly” attack targeting Mecca, the holy city of Islam which welcomes millions of pilgrims each year, both Sunnis and Shiites.

“Heinous attacks”

The Houthis strongly denied the allegations, with their spokesperson saying they were targeting oil installations and military bases “which are far from sacred sites”. The fighters thus claimed responsibility for an attack on Wednesday against a facility of the Saudi giant Aramco in Yanbu, on the Red Sea, and another against the Khamis Mushait air base. They also claimed to have shot down a Saudi fighter plane.

Several Arab countries condemned the attack on Mecca, such as Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. The Secretary General of the Arab League, Nabil Fahmy, spoke of “an extremely serious act”, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) of “heinous attacks”. Struck on its soil and threatened at sea, on one side by the Houthis in the Red Sea, on the other by Iran in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia is under pressure, with major consequences for the world economy.

The fragile truce concluded in 2022 between the belligerents was shattered in July, when the Houthis challenged Riyadh's control over Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian plane to land in Yemen. The conflict ravaging the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.