Iranian-backed Houthis launched a series of attacks on Saudi Arabia early this morning, leaving 73 people injured, according to Saudi authorities. The strikes targeted four Saudi cities, with civilians among the wounded.
Attacks on civilian and economic facilities
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen, stated that the rebels had targeted "civilian and economic facilities" in the cities of Abha's Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait. He declared that the coalition "will take all necessary operational measures to deter the terrorist Houthi militia with utmost resolve."
"The attacks by the terrorist Houthi militia – the latest of which targeted civilian and economic sites in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran – resulted in the injury of 73 civilians, including women and children," Maj Gen Al Malki said in a statement posted on X. He described the strikes as "a flagrant violation and a direct threat to the kingdom's sovereignty, and to the security and safety of its citizens and residents on its territory."
Escalation amid collapsed truce
The Houthi onslaught followed accusations from the rebels that Saudi Arabia had attacked a prison in Yemen's northern province of Jawf. These attacks occurred amidst a weeks-long intensification of conflict between the Houthis and Saudi-supported government forces in Yemen, breaking a four-year ceasefire in the civil war there.
Nasr al-Din Amer, a member of the Iran-backed Houthis’ politburo, said on Telegram that the "ongoing, in-depth response far exceeds what is being circulated on social media and is much broader," CNN reports. Local efforts to rescue more injured civilians are ongoing.
