Yemen's Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, reported more than 50 Saudi strikes in several regions of the country on Wednesday, the day after a large-scale attack against Saudi Arabia left several dozen injured.
This new escalation comes as the conflict in Yemen, started in 2014 but contained by a truce since 2022, has resumed in recent weeks against a backdrop of war in the Middle East. “Over the past 12 hours, the Saudi air force has carried out 54 airstrikes and targeted the provinces of Al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeida and Saada,” said rebel spokesperson Yahya Saree.
Riyadh did not immediately comment on this information but reaffirmed on Tuesday its “legitimate right to take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty”, after the attacks to which the kingdom was subject.
The Houthi-held port city of Hodeida could be the “ultimate objective” of Yemeni government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, according to the Study of War Institute. The city is “crucial for the delivery of civilian and military goods to the Houthis and its loss would constitute a major setback,” adds the institute.
The day before, according to the kingdom's authorities, 73 people were injured in Saudi Arabia after a wave of Houthi attacks, and several oil installations had to be temporarily shut down. And on Wednesday, the Houthis “fired several ballistic missiles and drones towards the towns of Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jizan”, in the south of the kingdom, Turki Al-Maliki, the spokesperson for the Riyadh-led coalition, said in the evening, without mentioning possible victims.
A war pitted the Houthis against pro-government forces, supported by Riyadh, between 2014 and 2022, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and which plunged this country, the poorest on the Arabian Peninsula, into a major humanitarian crisis.
Hostilities resumed in July, when rebels challenged Riyadh's control of Yemeni airspace by allowing an Iranian plane to land in Yemen. The internationally recognized government responded by striking the airport, an attack that the rebels blame on its Saudi ally.
Since then, the Houthis have increased attacks against military sites and areas controlled by pro-government forces. Last week, they launched a vast offensive aimed at advancing towards areas bordering the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
This passage linking Asia to Europe via the Red Sea and the Suez Canal has gained importance since the start of the war in the Middle East with Iran's blocking of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the peninsula.
Since the start of the Houthi offensive on Thursday, fighting has left more than 500 dead in Yemen, most of them fighters from both camps, according to a count established by AFP.
“Dangerous climbing”
“It is a catastrophe and the attacks are still ongoing,” said Mohamed Khudairi, who is one of around 20,000 people who have fled the clashes, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “We managed to leave but others remained trapped,” he added from a camp near Kokha, on the Red Sea.
The rebels also announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude exporter, and targeted its oil ships as well as infrastructure on its territory, including a refinery.
The European Union urged the Houthis to “end all (their) attacks (...), inside and outside Yemen”, denouncing “a dangerous escalation”.
Yemen is the latest country to be drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the American-Israeli offensive against Iran at the end of February.
