Scores wounded as Iran-backed Houthis attack Saudi Arabia in major regional escalation

By Kathleen Magramo, Eyad Kourdi, Nadeen Ebrahim, Tim Lister CNN

(CNN) — Saudi-led coalition forces are vowing a resolute response to a wave of attacks from the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen that wounded dozens of civilians and caused fires at energy facilities.

The Houthi attacks, which are reported to have struck several sites in south-western Saudi Arabia, mark a dramatic escalation in the conflict, which flared up again in July with missile attacks on Saudi oil facilities and ships in an expansion of the Middle East war.

The Saudi Energy Ministry said the attacks had caused fires at several sites in the southern region, temporarily halting some operations.

Oil prices on world markets rose by about 1% in the aftermath. The global benchmark, Brent crude, was trading close to $99 per barrel.

At least 73 people, including women and children, had been wounded, said Major General Turki Al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led Coalition Forces, who described the attacks as “dangerous” and “senseless.”

Houthi forces had targeted “civilian and economic sites” in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran, according to Al-Maliki.

In a statement Tuesday, the Houthi military said the attacks were in response to more than 100 Saudi airstrikes in Yemen over the past three days that it claimed had killed many people. It said it had fired “dozens of ballistic missiles and drones.”

The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition – the Saudi-led grouping that has been fighting the Houthis during Yemen’s years-long civil war – will “resolutely confront (the Houthis) hostile approach,” Al-Maliki said.

“The Kingdom affirms its legitimate right to take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on X.

The Houthi attacks drew swift condemnation from Saudi Arabia’s regional allies. Egypt described them as “a dangerous escalation”, while Jordan said the barrage was “a blatant violation of Saudi sovereignty.”

The strikes showed “unacceptable disregard for civilian lives and the security of the countries of the region,” Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said. Kuwait echoed the regional condemnation.

Despite efforts to stay clear of America’s war with Iran, Saudi Arabia faced missile attacks from the Houthis in July, ending a fragile four-year ceasefire between the rebel group and the kingdom.

The Houthis also declared a blockade of Saudi shipping using the Red Sea – a vital outlet for the kingdom’s crude oil since Iran has sought to block the Strait of Hormuz. And they have targeted refineries on the Red Sea coast operated by Saudi oil giant Aramco.

Besides Houthi drone and missile attacks targeting Saudi Arabia, fighting on the ground between the Houthis and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen has erupted in recent weeks. Government forces claimed advances on several fronts on Monday.

The Houthis have used ballistic missiles and drones in strikes on the port of Mocha, which is controlled by government forces.

A seven-year conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis ended with a truce in 2022, but the Houthis have since demanded an end to Saudi attempts to isolate the large swathes of northern Yemen controlled by the group through a travel and economic blockade.

That blockade has perpetuated a humanitarian crisis in much of Yemen. A senior Houthi official, Nasr al-Din Amer, told CNN in July the Saudi measures were “sufficient to compel us to act more decisively than we have been doing. We do not need any other agendas.”

The latest Houthi attacks suggest the rebel group is ready to expand the conflict, despite substantial mobilization of Saudi forces near the border with parts of Yemen held by the group.

Amer, a member of the Houthis’ politburo, said on Telegram Tuesday that the “ongoing, in-depth response far exceeds what is being circulated on social media and is much broader.”

The Houthi military statement said its forces would “uphold the equation of siege with siege until the aggression stops and the siege is lifted.”

The Houthis are “trying to gain more territory closer to Bab al-Mandab, the critical chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean,” according to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.

“That would benefit Iran as well, because then it can put pressure on not just the Strait of Hormuz as a critical choke point, but also Bab al-Mandeb,” the narrow strait at the southern end of the Red Sea.

There was the greater risk that “the conflict that seems to be rekindled in Yemen might take a life of its own and continue even beyond the end of hostilities between Iran and the US,” Vaez told CNN.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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