Saudi Arabia vows to respond after Houthis attack cities and energy facilities

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement has attacked energy facilities and other civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia with dozens of drones and missiles, injuring 73 individuals, Saudi authorities say.

Key points

• The fighting has reportedly left more than 300 individuals dead and displaced 18, 500.
• On Monday, they accused Saudi Arabia of bombing a prison in the city of al-Hazm and killing at least 11 individuals.
• The Red Sea has become crucial for oil shipments from Saudi Arabia during the US and Israel's war with Iran.
• According to The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, its forces would respond to the "dangerous escalation".
• The Houthis remarked the attacks were retaliation for dozens of recent Saudi strikes on areas of north-western Yemen that they control.

Tuesday's attacks hit four south-western cities, causing fires at oil facilities and installations that led to a temporary halt in operations, according to Saudi Arabia's military and energy ministry.

Meanwhile, the Houthis remarked the attacks were retaliation for dozens of recent Saudi strikes on areas of north-western Yemen that they control.

On Monday, they accused Saudi Arabia of bombing a prison in the city of al-Hazm and killing at least 11 individuals. Twenty inmates are reportedly missing under the rubble.

Houthis reportedly kill six in first deadly attack since start of Iran war. Houthi attacks reportedly kill at least 30 Yemeni administration forces.

Houthi attacks raise fears of wider Middle East conflict and more global economic damage.

Notably, the spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Maj Gen Turki al-Maliki, remarked the Houthi drone and missile attacks targeted civilian and economic sites in the cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, and that women and children were among the injured.

In practice, an energy ministry statement cited an official source as saying that injuries were additionally noted after "several energy sector facilities and installations" were targeted.

For context, the attacks "caused fires at several locations, leading to a temporary halt in some operations, " they continued.

Maliki described Houthi attacks as a "dangerous escalation that confirms the hostile and irresponsible approach of this terrorist militia" and remarked the Saudi-led coalition would "take all necessary operational measures to deter" the group.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea accused the Saudi military of carrying out more than 120 air strikes on the Yemeni provinces of Marib, al-Bayda, Hudaydah, Taiz and Jawf over the past three days, and of committing "grave crimes".

He remarked the Houthis had responded to this "brutal aggression" with "dozens of ballistic missiles and drones". It he maintained caused "significant damage".

In practice, a Saudi-led coalition of Arab states has backed Yemen's administration against the Houthis in the country's devastating civil war for more than a decade.

When the Houthis confirmed a "maritime embargo" against Saudi Arabia and began missile and drone attacks on Saudi airports, oil facilities and tankers in the Red Sea, a four-year-old informal ceasefire began to unravel in July.

As well as an air strike on Sanaa airport that they blamed on the kingdom, the Houthis remarked they were retaliating for a Saudi blockade of ports and airports in their territory.

There has been heavy fighting on Yemen's south-western coast since Thursday, when the Houthis introduced an offensive against Yemeni pro-government forces in a bid to take control of the Bab al-Mandab Strait. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden.

For context, the fighting has reportedly left more than 300 individuals dead and displaced 18, 500.

In practice, the Red Sea has become crucial for oil shipments from Saudi Arabia during the US and Israel's war with Iran. It has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.

For now, saudi Arabia vows to respond after Houthis attack cities and energy facilities remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.