Yemen’s Houthi movement said Saturday that Saudi Arabian warplanes carried out 129 strikes across seven provinces over the previous 48 hours, marking a sharp intensification of hostilities following the group’s rapid territorial gains along the Red Sea coast.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the strikes hit Taiz in the southwest, the oil-producing Marib province in the east, Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast, and the northern provinces of Al-Jawf, Saada, Amran and Hajjah. He said the raids were carried out by F-15 and Typhoon jets flying out of Saudi bases at Khamis Mushait and Taif, and warned the attacks “will not go unanswered.” Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to the claim; Riyadh has previously said it has no ground troops inside Yemen and frames its role as backing the internationally recognized government while defending its own territory.
The reported escalation follows days of Houthi advances that culminated Friday in the group seizing full control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, including Mayyun Island, along with other territory on Yemen’s western coast. Yemen’s army, aligned with the Saudi-backed government, said separately Saturday that its own aircraft had struck dozens of Houthi military vehicles, and claimed advances toward Al-Hazm, the administrative center of Al-Jawf province bordering Saudi Arabia.
The fighting represents the most serious breakdown yet of a rough calm that had held in Yemen since April 2022, following nearly 12 years of civil war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis, who have controlled Sanaa and much of northern Yemen since 2014. Since the Gaza war began in late 2023, the Houthis have increasingly extended their campaign beyond Yemen’s borders, striking Israel and international shipping in the Red Sea — activity that culminated this week in their takeover of the strait itself.
