Saudi-led coalition airstrikes hit Yemen’s Marib amid escalating fighting: Houthi media

Sanaa: Four airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition hit Yemen’s northeastern Marib province on Tuesday, Houthi-run al-Masirah TV reported, hours after the Houthis claimed large-scale missile and drone attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The strikes targeted Al-Jubah district in the southern part of the oil-rich province, al-Masirah said, without immediately reporting casualties or damage. Saudi Arabia has yet to comment on the reported strikes.

Earlier Tuesday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the group had launched dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran and Jazan, as well as King Khalid Air Base near Khamis Mushait. He vowed that the group would continue operations “deep inside Saudi territory.”

Saudi authorities said the Houthi attacks targeted civilian and economic facilities in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, injuring 73 people, including women and children, Xinhua news agency reported. The Saudi Energy Ministry said fires broke out and operations at some energy facilities were temporarily halted.

The escalation comes as fighting between government forces and the Houthis widens across Yemen. Government forces said Tuesday they had retaken the Al-Yatmah area in the northern province of Al-Jawf, while clashes continued on other fronts, including in western Yemen, where fierce fighting has raged as the Houthis push toward government-held areas near the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognised government in Yemen said on Tuesday that recent attacks by Yemen’s Houthi group targeting Saudi Arabia constitute a “dangerous escalation.”

In a post on social media platform X, coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki said the escalation by the Houthi group and its attempts to target the Kingdom, its national assets, citizens and residents reflect what he described as a “hostile and irresponsible approach.”

Al-Maliki said the latest attacks targeted civilian and economic sites in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, injuring 73 civilians, including women and children.

He said the attacks constituted a violation of Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and a direct threat to the security and safety of its citizens and residents.

Al-Maliki added that the coalition’s Joint Forces Command would take necessary operational measures to deter the Houthi group, respond to the sources of threats and neutralise their danger.

–IANS