Yemen’s Houthi rebels have accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out more than 50 airstrikes against their positions within 24 hours, following a drone and missile attack claimed by the Iran-backed group on a Saudi military base.
Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said on Sunday that Saudi forces carried out 58 airstrikes over the period.
“The criminal Saudi enemy has carried out 58 airstrikes in the past 24 hours,” Saree said in a post on Telegram.
The allegations followed the Houthis’ heaviest missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia in years, which the group said targeted military and oil facilities. The attack reportedly set some oil sites ablaze and injured 73 people.
The Houthi-affiliated Almasirah television reported that Saudi aircraft carried out two strikes on Saada, a stronghold of the group, while artillery fire was reported in the border district of Monabbih.
The channel later reported two additional Saudi strikes on a market in the northern Al-Jawf province.
The Houthis have claimed that more than 100 strikes have been carried out against their positions since Tuesday. There has been no immediate confirmation from Riyadh of the reported number of strikes.
The latest escalation comes after renewed fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. The conflict intensified in July after the Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and began targeting ships in the Red Sea.
The group has also claimed control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, strengthening its position around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic waterway linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
Saudi Arabia has largely refrained from detailed public comments on the reported Houthi attacks, although authorities have issued frequent alerts warning residents in southern regions near Yemen about potential attacks.
On Sunday, the Saudi civil defence agency issued alerts for Abha and the Khamis Mushait area before lifting them shortly afterwards.
Earlier, the Houthis claimed they had used drones and missiles to attack the Sharurah military base in southern Saudi Arabia, saying the operation targeted weapons depots and command-and-control centres.
Saudi civil defence officials said on Saturday that two people were injured after a projectile launched by the Houthis landed in the Jizan region near the Yemeni border.
The renewed fighting has also triggered a fresh displacement crisis. The International Organisation for Migration said on Sunday that nearly 86,000 people had been displaced by the recent hostilities, an increase of about 10,000 from the previous day.
The agency added that more than 2,000 people had crossed into Djibouti as some displaced Yemenis began fleeing the country.
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the internationally recognised government. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015, and the two sides later entered a UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022.
The conflict remained largely dormant until the latest escalation.
The renewed hostilities are unfolding amid a wider Middle East conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran.
US news outlet Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman twice called US President Donald Trump last week to request strikes against the Houthis, but that the request was rejected.
