Yemen’s Houthis claim major missile, drone attack on Saudi air base

Sanaa: Yemen’s Houthi group said Monday that it had launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at a major military air base in southwestern Saudi Arabia, marking a significant escalation in the widening cross-border confrontation.

In a statement carried by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, a southwestern Saudi city near the Yemeni border.

Saree said the operation targeted fighter-jet hangars, radar systems, runways, ammunition depots and other military facilities at the base, claiming that the strikes were “precise and direct” and caused significant damage, Xinhua News Agency reported.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on Monday’s Houthi claims or information on possible casualties and damage.

Saree said the operation was carried out in retaliation for what the group described as an intensifying Saudi air campaign across Yemen, claiming that Saudi F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets had conducted more than 300 airstrikes on several Yemeni provinces in recent days.

He warned that the Houthis would continue launching attacks deep inside Saudi territory as long as airstrikes on Yemen continue, saying any further escalation would be met with broader military operations.

The claim came amid a sweeping Houthi offensive launched on Sept. 3 that has rapidly redrawn front lines along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, with the group capturing several government-held areas in the Red Sea Hodeidah province and neighboring southwestern Taiz province.

The Houthis captured the strategic port city of Mocha on Thursday before pushing south into the Bab al-Mandab Strait area and seizing Mayun Island at the heart of the strait, tightening their grip on the vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.

Following the advance on Friday, the Houthis said international navigation through the strait remained “free, safe and smooth,” while stressing that Saudi vessels remained excluded under a maritime ban the group imposed on July 20.

Yemen’s conflict erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.

IANS