Houthis claim strike on southern Saudi base

Houthi fighters yesterday said they used drones and missiles to attack a military base in southern Saudi Arabia as renewed fighting with the Yemeni government forces forced growing numbers of civilians to flee.

The attack at the southern Sharurah base targeted “weapons depots and command and control centers that are managing the aggression against our nation and people,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social media.

The date of the operation was not specified. Clashes have increased last week between the Iran-allied Houthis and Yemeni government forces, which are backed by Riyadh.

People celebrate in the Bani Matar, Yemen, on Saturday, as they follow a convoy carrying Houthi prisoners freed in Mokha.

Photo: AP

On Saturday, the Yemeni government forces said they had struck Houthi fighters in the Red Sea city of Mocha, and later attacked other Houthi positions in the southwestern part of the country.

“Air force of the armed forces targeted positions and barracks of the terrorist Houthi group with three airstrikes” in the Taiz region, the Yemeni military said yesterday in a social media post.

US news site Axios also reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman twice called US President Donald Trump to request strikes on the Houthis last week, but that the request was rejected.

The ongoing clashes follow a week-long Houthi offensive that culminated in the group capturing the remainder of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and several strategic islands, cementing their hold on the Bab al-Mandab Strait at the sea’s southern entrance.

The waterway has become an important artery for Saudi Arabian oil exports after Iran largely cut off shipments through the Gulf with its blockade on the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Middle East war.

The Houthis have declared their own maritime blockade of Riyadh’s Red Sea ports.