Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted military facilities in Saudi Arabia

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the Yemeni armed forces conducted a large-scale military operation targeting military installations and infrastructure. (EPA Images pic) SANAA: Yemen's Houthis said Monday they had fired dozens of drones and ballistic missiles at military targets in Saudi Arabia, in retaliation for airstrikes by Riyadh in Yemen."The Yemeni armed forces conducted a large-scale military operation targeting military installations and infrastructure, including fighter jet hangars, radars, runways, ammunition depots, and other targets located at King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait," said Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree, adding that the operation "inflicted significant losses".Saudi Civil Defence issued brief alerts on Monday in the neighbouring cities of Khamis Mushait and Abha. Overnight, it had also issued brief alerts in the area and closer to the border with Yemen.A Khamis Mushait resident told AFP he heard "intense blasts" which left fires burning for a "long time"."Honestly, we couldn't sleep at all," he said.Saree accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out "more than 300 airstrikes in the past five days" across Yemen, "launched from Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases".The Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed government forces since Yemen's civil war reignited in July, when the group declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.On Sunday, the Houthis said they used drones and missiles to attack the Sharurah base in southern Saudi Arabia, days after Tuesday's strikes that wounded dozens of people in the south, according to Saudi authorities.The latest clashes follow a week-long Houthi offensive that culminated in the group capturing Yemen's Red Sea coast, cementing their hold on the Bab al-Mandab Strait.The waterway is a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed amid the US-Iran war.

The Houthis said they fired dozens of drones and missiles at the kingdom. Yemen’s Houthis launched a fresh barrage of missile and drone attacks on Saudi military targets on Monday, as Iran denied any involvement in the country’s revived civil war. The group, fighting the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, last week seized control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which has become vital as the wider US-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz.

A Khamis Mushait resident told AFP he heard “intense blasts” which left fires burning for a “long time”. “Honestly, we couldn’t sleep at all.” The Bab al-Mandab waterway has become essential for Saudi oil exports, with Iran continuing to block the Hormuz strait as part of the Middle East war, but the Houthis have declared a maritime blockade on Riyadh. The renewed fighting in Yemen comes as the wider regional war remains stalemated.

On Monday, a proposed meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the future of Hormuz was postponed, with Tehran accusing Riyadh of using Yemen as a “pretext” to delay the talks. Tehran has long supported the Houthis, a member of its anti-Israel “axis of resistance, including with weapons and technology, but analysts dispute the extent to which Iran is behind the renewed fighting. “Iran does not interfere in Yemeni affairs,” foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters on Monday, saying the Houthis are “entirely independent actors who make their decisions based on their own interests”.

Iran has previously threatened to open “new fronts”, including Bab al-Mandab, and the Houthi offensive has sent oil prices soaring once again, with the lengthy route through the Suez Canal and around Africa now the only secure route for Saudi oil to reach key Asian markets. – 300 strikes in five days – Yemen’s prolonged civil war had been dormant for four years before bursting back into life in July over an Iranian flight to the capital Sanaa, as it became the latest conflict drawn into the wider regional war. The Houthis’ military spokesman Yahya Saree said Monday that the group’s latest strikes targeted “fighter jet hangars, radars, runways, ammunition depots” at King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, in retaliation for airstrikes by Riyadh.