The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Tuesday that Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia had wounded 73 civilians, including women and children, in the latest escalation by the Iran-aligned militia.
It was unclear from the coalition's statement when the attacks took place. The statement described them as the “latest” Houthi attacks, but did not specify whether they occurred overnight or over the past several days.
Coalition spokesman Maj Gen Turki Al Malki said Iran-backed rebels targeted civilian and economic sites in four Saudi cities.
“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.
“This constitutes 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,” he said.
Maj Gen Al Malki described the attacks as a “dangerous escalation” by the Houthi rebels, and said they demonstrated the group's continued deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure, in violation of international humanitarian law and international law.
The announcement comes less than a month after a Houthi attack wounded 11 civilians in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran province. On August 6, seven Saudis, including a woman and a four-year-old child, as well as one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani national were injured, according to the coalition. The child suffered second-degree burns.
Airport attack
The Houthis have intensified attacks against Saudi Arabia amid a wider escalation involving Iran-aligned armed groups in the region. The group has claimed attacks against Saudi military and infrastructure targets, including a reported attack on Najran airport.
The latest Saudi statement did not provide details on the weapons used in the attacks or specify the extent of damage to the sites it said were targeted. The Houthi movement had not immediately commented on the coalition's latest casualty figure.
Saudi Arabia backs Yemen's internationally recognised government, while the Houthis control the capital Sanaa and large parts of the country. A truce that significantly reduced fighting between the sides took effect in 2022, but tensions have risen sharply in recent weeks.
On Monday, the Financial Times said Saudi Aramco's Jazan oil facilities were hit in new strikes and that damage was being assessed. The Saudi oil company has not commented.
The escalation comes amid renewed fighting inside Yemen.
On Saturday, at least four civilians were killed and nine others injured in a Houthi ballistic missile attack on the Haijat Al Abd highway linking Taiz with southern Yemen, state news agency Saba reported. Pro-government forces also launched a counter-attack in southern Hodeidah's Al Garrahi district as fighting remained intense.
Yemen's Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour said the fighting in Taiz and Hodeidah had displaced thousands of civilians and called for urgent humanitarian support. The ministry said attacks on residential areas and displacement camps had further increased pressure on vulnerable communities.
The escalation comes as the conflict in Yemen has become increasingly intertwined with the wider regional confrontation involving Iran and its allies. Saudi Arabia has sought to strengthen its defences and security partnerships as Houthi attacks have expanded beyond Yemen.
More than 22 million people require humanitarian assistance in Yemen, while 5.2 million were internally displaced and 18.3 million were acutely food-insecure, according to UN data from March.
