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The Houthis said Thursday that Saudi forces carried out 54 airstrikes across Yemen in a 12-hour span, two days after Houthi attacks on Saudi oil facilities and an airbase wounded 73 people.
Getting into it: Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the strikes hit al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and al-Bayda provinces and that the aircraft took off from King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base in Taif. “These air strikes and the ongoing aggression against our country will not go unanswered and unpunished, by the will and power of God,” he said. Another Houthi spokesman put the overnight figure at 32 strikes, and the group said Tuesday that Saudi forces had conducted 121 strikes in the preceding days. Saudi officials have not commented on the claims.
The attack that set off this round came Tuesday, when the Houthis hit a Saudi airbase and nearby oil facilities, setting installations on fire. It was one of the largest attacks inside Saudi Arabia since the US and Israel began their war on Iran in February. A satellite image obtained by Reuters appears to show damage at King Khalid Air Base.
The Houthis struck again Wednesday, hitting three cities with ballistic missiles and drones, according to coalition spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, who said the kingdom would respond to what he called “heinous attacks.” Saudi civil defense issued alerts in Khamis Mushait and Abha, and no casualties were reported.
Casualty counts are contested and rising. Houthi-run outlets said a Saudi strike on a prison in al-Jawf killed at least 32 people and wounded seven, a toll that climbed from 21 to 23 to 32 across successive reports. Riyadh has not acknowledged any strikes in al-Jawf. On the other side, the Yemeni government’s Saba news agency said Houthi shelling in Marib killed at least three children, including a baby, and wounded six. It was the second such attack in 48 hours; the first killed two children and wounded 15. The World Health Organization counts more than 1,000 people killed or wounded in the clashes, with tens of thousands displaced.
The Houthis took Sanaa in 2014 and pushed the government south, splitting the country in two. The sides have been fighting ever since. Government forces have counterattacked and expanded into al-Jawf, a key approach to Sanaa, and say they intend to retake all Houthi-held territory.
The Houthis, for their part, are pushing to take control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow passage at the Red Sea’s southern mouth that Saudi oil shipments depend on. The group launched a major offensive last week against Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces in Hodeidah and Taiz, and Yemeni military officials believe the advance in western Taiz is aimed at Mokha, a port within 50 miles of the strait.
The pressure matters because Saudi Arabia normally ships crude through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran effectively closed after the war began in February. The kingdom moved most of its exports to the Red Sea, but in July the Houthis declared a blockade on Saudi shipping there. Both routes are now compromised.
