Fighting escalates in Yemen; Houthi attacks trigger alerts in Saudi Arabia

Yemen’s government accuses Houthis of killing three children as rebels claim Saudi forces carried out 54 air raids in 12 hours.

Yemen war escalates as Houthis launch major offensive and civilians flee

Fighting has escalated across Yemen, with the country’s internationally recognised government claiming the Houthis killed three children in an artillery attack, while Saudi Arabia accused the Iran-backed group of continuing to target the kingdom’s infrastructure.

The claims came as warnings of impending attacks sounded in several Saudi provinces early on Thursday, with the Houthis promising to respond after accusing Riyadh of launching 54 airstrikes over a 12-hour span.

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The renewed hostilities between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government forces are unfolding amid intensifying regional tensions set off by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran. Pakistan warned on Tuesday that continued Houthi attacks could trigger the recently signed Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, a mutual security pact involving Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan.

Iran, meanwhile, has rejected criticism from the Arab League that it is interfering in Yemen, insisting that the Houthis act independently.

According to the World Health Organization, the clashes have killed or wounded more than 1,000 people since August 24 and displaced tens of thousands.

On Wednesday, the government-run Saba news reported that at least three children, including an infant, were killed in Houthi shelling in the central Marib governorate. Six others were also wounded in the attack, which Saba said was the second of its kind in 48 hours. The first assault killed two children and wounded 15 others, it said.

The Houthis, for their part, said the death toll from an attack on a prison in the northern al-Jawf governorate had climbed to at least 32 people. Some seven others were wounded in the attack on Tuesday, they said.

Yemen has been mired in conflict since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa. The attack prompted a Saudi-led military intervention the following year and a devastating conflict that killed an estimated 150,000 people.

A United Nations-brokered truce in 2022 brought a halt to large-scale fighting, but clashes resumed again in July following a strike on the Houthi-held Sanaa airport. The Houthis last week launched a major offensive in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces aimed at advancing towards the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a critical maritime waterway for Saudi oil exports. That offensive prompted government-aligned forces to mount counterattacks and expand operations elsewhere in the country, including in the al-Jawf governorate, considered a gateway to Sanaa.

The fighting has also spilled over into Saudi Arabia.

A spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Major General Turki al-Maliki, said on Wednesday the Houthis were “persisting” in attacks on the kingdom’s assets and infrastructure, adding that the rebels had targeted Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Jazan using ballistic missiles and drones.

He promised that the coalition would respond to what he called the Houthis’s “heinous attacks”.

Saudi Arabia’s Civil Defense authority also issued multiple alerts for Khamis Mushait and Abha early on Thursday, after issuing similar warnings for the same areas on Wednesday.

No casualties were reported in connection with those alerts.

The attacks on Wednesday came as the Houthis promised to respond to Saudi airstrikes.

In a statement on social media, Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said Saudi forces had launched 54 airstrikes across six provinces over 12 hours on Wednesday, targeting al-Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and al-Bayda. He did not say whether the strikes had caused casualties, but said the aircraft involved had taken off from King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base in Taif.

“These airstrikes and the ongoing aggression against our country will not go unanswered and unpunished, by the will and power of God,” Saree said.

Saree had on Tuesday claimed that Saudi forces had carried out 121 airstrikes on Houthi-controlled territory in the preceding days, including a strike on the prison in al-Hazm, in al-Jawf. The Houthis said they retaliated with attacks on Aramco facilities in Abha, Najran, and Jizan, as well as on the Economic City and Khamis Mushait Air Base.

Saudi officials said on Tuesday that Houthi attacks had wounded at least 73 people.

Separately on Wednesday, Yemeni government-aligned forces said that they had continued advancing in al-Jawf for a third consecutive day, reaching the vicinity of Bir al-Maraziq and claiming to have severed Houthi supply lines in the area.

The forces also said they had carried out attacks on Houthi positions in Taiz, and that additional reinforcements had been sent on Wednesday to bolster the anti-Houthi National Resistance forces along Yemen’s western coast. Those claims could not be independently confirmed.

Pakistani officials reiterated this week that any attack on Saudi Arabia could activate the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, which Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan signed last month to strengthen collective deterrence against future attacks.

“If there is unprovoked aggression, or a spillover of whatever is happening in Yemen into Saudi Arabia, definitely the Mecca agreement will become operational,” Pakistan’s defence minister told local media.

Iran, for its part, sharply criticised a statement issued earlier this week by Arab League foreign ministers, who condemned what they called “Iranian violations of Yemen’s sovereignty” and called on Tehran to halt any activity that threatened Yemen’s territorial integrity or airspace.

In response, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “completely rejects the claims regarding Iran’s interference in the affairs of Yemen,” adding that it had “consistently emphasised the need to preserve Yemen’s unity and territorial integrity” and had supported Yemeni-led dialogue based on a UN-backed roadmap.

也门政府指责胡塞武装杀害了三名儿童，而胡塞武装则声称沙特军队在 12 小时内进行了 54 次空袭。

也门战事升级，胡塞武装发动大规模攻势，平民逃离家园

也门战事升级，该国国际社会承认的政府声称胡塞武装在一次炮击中造成三名儿童死亡，而沙特阿拉伯则指责这个受伊朗支持的组织继续袭击沙特的基础设施。

就在这些说法出现之际，周四清晨，沙特阿拉伯多个省份响起了即将遭受袭击的警告。胡塞武装指责利雅得在 12 小时内发动了 54 次空袭，并承诺将予以回应。

也门特使警告称，胡塞武装威胁曼德海峡，战争可能扩大（共4条，此为第1条）

巴基斯坦称，胡塞武装对沙特阿拉伯的四次袭击中的第二次可能触发防务条约。

列表 3/4：重返工作岗位，而非重返校园：也门危机迫使儿童辍学

也门战争升级（共 4 项）：主要参与者有哪些？

胡塞武装与沙特支持的政府军之间的新一轮冲突正值美国和以色列对伊朗发动战争引发地区紧张局势加剧之际。巴基斯坦周二警告称，胡塞武装的持续袭击可能触发近期签署的《麦加联合防御协议》，该协议是一项涉及沙特阿拉伯、土耳其和巴基斯坦的共同安全条约。

与此同时，伊朗驳斥了阿拉伯联盟对其干涉也门事务的批评，坚称胡塞武装应独立行事。

据世界卫生组织称，自 8 月 24 日以来，冲突已造成 1000 多人死亡或受伤，数万人流离失所。

周三，政府运营的萨巴通讯社报道称，胡塞武装在马里卜省中部发动炮击，造成至少三名儿童死亡，其中包括一名婴儿。另有六人在袭击中受伤。萨巴通讯社称，这是48小时内发生的第二起类似袭击。报道称，第一次袭击造成两名儿童死亡，15人受伤。

胡塞武装方面则表示，北部焦夫省一所监狱遭袭事件造成的死亡人数已攀升至至少32人，另有7人在周二的袭击中受伤。

自2014年胡塞武装占领首都萨那以来，也门一直深陷冲突之中。此次袭击引发了沙特阿拉伯领导的联军在次年进行军事干预，并导致一场毁灭性的冲突，估计造成15万人死亡。

2022年，在联合国斡旋下达成的停火协议一度结束了大规模战斗，但7月胡塞武装袭击了胡塞武装控制的萨那机场后，冲突再次爆发。上周，胡塞武装在荷台达省和塔伊兹省发动大规模攻势，意图向曼德海峡推进。曼德海峡是沙特阿拉伯石油出口的关键海上航道。此次攻势促使政府军展开反击，并将行动范围扩大到沙特其他地区，包括被视为通往萨那门户的焦夫省。

战火也蔓延到了沙特阿拉伯境内。

沙特领导的联军发言人图尔基·马利基少将周三表示，胡塞武装“持续”袭击沙特王国的资产和基础设施，并补充说，叛军使用弹道导弹和无人机袭击了哈米斯穆沙伊特、艾卜哈和吉赞。

他承诺，联军将对胡塞武装的“令人发指的袭击”作出回应。

沙特阿拉伯民防部门周四早些时候也对哈米斯穆沙伊特和艾卜哈发布了多项警报，此前该部门周三也对同一地区发布了类似警告。

这些警报未造成人员伤亡。

周三的袭击发生之际，胡塞武装承诺将对沙特的空袭做出回应。

胡塞武装发言人叶海亚·萨里在社交媒体上发表声明称，沙特军队周三在12小时内对六个省份发动了54次空袭，目标包括焦夫省、马里卜省、塔伊兹省、荷台达省、萨达省和贝达省。他没有说明空袭是否造成人员伤亡，但表示参与行动的飞机分别从哈米斯穆沙伊特的哈立德国王空军基地和塔伊夫的法赫德国王空军基地起飞。

“这些空袭和针对我国的持续侵略，必将受到回应和惩罚，这是上帝的旨意和力量所定的。”萨里说道。

萨里周二声称，沙特军队在前几天对胡塞武装控制区发动了121次空袭，其中包括对焦夫省哈兹姆监狱的袭击。胡塞武装则表示，他们以袭击阿卜哈、纳季兰和吉赞的沙特阿美石油公司设施以及经济城和哈米斯穆沙伊特空军基地作为报复。

沙特官员周二表示，胡塞武装的袭击已造成至少73人受伤。

周三，也门政府军表示，他们已连续第三天在焦夫省推进，抵达比尔·马拉齐克附近，并声称已切断该地区胡塞武装的补给线。

这些部队还声称，他们对塔伊兹的胡塞武装阵地发动了袭击，并于周三增派援军，以加强也门西部沿海地区的反胡塞武装“全国抵抗力量”。这些说法尚未得到独立证实。

巴基斯坦官员本周重​​申，任何对沙特阿拉伯的袭击都可能启动《麦加联合防御协议》。该协议由沙特阿拉伯、土耳其和巴基斯坦上个月签署，旨在加强对未来袭击的集体威慑。

巴基斯坦国防部长告诉当地媒体：“如果发生无端侵略，或者也门局势蔓延到沙特阿拉伯，那么《麦加协议》肯定会生效。”

伊朗方面则强烈批评了阿拉伯联盟外长本周早些时候发表的声明。阿拉伯联盟外长谴责他们所谓的“伊朗侵犯也门主权”，并呼吁德黑兰停止任何威胁也门领土完整或领空的活动。

对此，伊朗外交部表示，“完全否认有关伊朗干涉也门事务的说法”，并补充说，伊朗“一贯强调维护也门统一和领土完整的必要性”，并支持也门主导的、基于联合国支持的路线图的对话。