Houthi missile and drone strikes wound 73, hit Saudi oil sites

Houthi rebels launched missiles and drones at Saudi oil, utility and military sites, wounding 73 people. The strikes have sharply escalated the Yemen conflict and renewed risks to regional oil supplies and shipping.

In Short

• Operations at southern utilities were temporarily suspended as firefighters battled multiple blazes
• A prison strike in Jawf killed seven, including a child, hours earlier
• The Jazan region houses major infrastructure, including a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, wounding 73 people and setting off fires at oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom, according to Saudi authorities. The Houthis said they targeted oil, economic and military sites in southern Saudi Arabia, in what Saudi officials described as a "serious escalation".

The attacks came amid renewed fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition, raising fears of a wider return to war in Yemen and adding to pressure on oil supplies and shipping routes in the region. The latest violence has also led to fresh casualties and displacement inside Yemen.

The strikes came hours after the Houthis blamed Saudi Arabia for an airstrike on a prison in Yemen's northern Jawf province. At least seven people, including a child, were killed and seven others were wounded in that strike. Saudi coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the rebels hit "civilian and economic facilities" in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait.

Al-Malki said 73 people, including women and children, were wounded in the attacks and said the kingdom would retaliate. Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry said the strikes caused fires at several oil facilities and utilities in the southern region, forcing a temporary suspension of operations. The region includes major oil infrastructure, including the 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Jazan, one of the kingdom's largest. Firefighters were battling the blazes on Tuesday morning, the ministry said.

In a prerecorded video statement, Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at oil and economic facilities, as well as an air base in southern Saudi Arabia. He said the targets included Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries, Aramco facilities in Najran and Abha, and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait. Saree blamed Saudi Arabia for the escalation and said, "every aggression against our country and people will be met with a firm response."

Speaking in Moscow, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan accused the Houthis of using violence to serve their own interests rather than Yemen's, despite what he said was a Saudi offer to negotiate peace. He said the latest Houthi escalation was part of a series of provocations and that Saudi Arabia would not hesitate to defend itself.

The latest fighting has threatened to reignite Yemen's civil war, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government. According to UN estimates, the war has killed at least 150,000 people and at times pushed Yemen to the brink of famine. A truce four years ago had reduced fighting, but clashes have intensified again in recent weeks.

Between August 23 and September 5, the renewed violence killed at least 194 people and wounded more than 880 others, according to the World Health Organisation. The United Nations said the fighting displaced more than 21,000 people over the past 27 hours, including 18,500 in Taiz and Hodeida in southwestern Yemen. "Families are arriving with nothing: no shelter, no food, no way to know if it's safe to go back," said Abdusattor Esoev, head of the International Organisation for Migration's mission in Yemen. "Many of these are people who have already been displaced once, twice, even four times before."

The latest escalation followed a Houthi attempt in July to fly a plane from Tehran to Sanaa, challenging the Saudi-led coalition's long-running air and naval blockade. A coalition airstrike hit the runway at Sanaa airport and prevented the plane from landing. The Houthis then resumed missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and attacks on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea, bringing an end to a 2022 truce that had largely halted fighting.

The rebels have also stepped up attacks on Saudi-backed forces inside Yemen, prompting counter-attacks by government troops along Yemen's west coast and in other areas. Government forces have reclaimed territory from the Houthis in Hodeida and Taiz, and have also attacked them in Jawf, Marib and Bayda. The Houthis are part of a wider network of Iranian-backed groups in the region that have increased attacks on shipping, Israel and neighbouring countries in recent years, while also carrying out operations independently.

Tuesday's attacks on Saudi Arabia, the fresh casualties in Yemen and the growing displacement underline how quickly the conflict has intensified again, with fighting now affecting both sides of the border as pressure builds on regional security and oil supply routes.

With PTI Inputs

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