Yemen: 33 dead in Saudi strikes, according to the Houthis

Yemen's Houthis announced on Sunday the death of 33 people in Saudi strikes on the Sanaa region, controlled by the pro-Iranian movement, in conflict against the Yemeni government and Saudi Arabia which supports it. In response to the recent series of deadly attacks, fighters have claimed responsibility for strikes against oil and military sites in Saudi Arabia as well as Riyadh airport.

After almost daily Houthi missile and drone attacks in October against the kingdom, fighting seems to be intensifying in recent days on Yemeni soil, where the conflict resumed in July after four years of calm, opening a new front in the war in the Middle East.

Cited by the Saba news agency, the Houthi health ministry said planes from the Riyadh-led military coalition targeted six houses in the village of al-Shariya, east of the capital Sanaa. The toll is 33 dead (12 men, 8 women and 13 children), and 39 injured, according to the ministry which denounced “one of the deadliest massacres targeting civilians” since the start of the war. The Houthi-linked Almasirah channel broadcast a video it said was taken in the village showing smoke rising from a site, piles of rubble and injured people hospitalized.

On Friday, at least 30 people died in a bombing on a market in the governorate of Taiz (west), whose town of the same name has been surrounded for weeks by the Houthis. Riyadh-backed government forces and the Houthis mutually blamed each other for the attack.

In retaliation, the Houthis claimed on Saturday to have launched several missile and drone attacks against Saudi military positions and the Riyadh airport, which had to be closed in mid-October after a deadly strike. The movement also targeted oil installations of the giant Aramco, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree told X.

Earlier, the Riyadh-led coalition reported another interception and destruction of a cruise missile heading towards the capital. The war in Yemen erupted in 2014 when the Houthis took control of Sanaa and then other regions, triggering a Saudi-led military intervention in 2015. A truce was concluded in 2022 but fighting resumed this summer.

The conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead in one of the poorest countries in the world, gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis. Since October, Saudi forces have regularly bombed Houthi positions in Yemen, while pro-Iranian fighters have increased their attacks against Saudi oil infrastructure and airports.

In September, a Houthi offensive on the Yemeni coast of the Red Sea allowed them to strengthen their hold on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic crossing point for maritime traffic between Europe and Asia. They decreed a blockade in the Red Sea against the fleet of the Saudi kingdom, the world's largest exporter of crude oil. According to the Wall Street Journal, ships wishing to take this route are now contacting them to obtain their approval and thus secure their passage.