Fighting in Yemen intensifies: what is the latest news from the battlefield? | News from the Houthis

Forces aligned with the Yemeni government said Thursday they intercepted a drone heading toward Medina in Saudi Arabia, as well as a missile fired toward Riyadh, amid escalating fighting between them and Yemen’s Houthi group.

Fighting between Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels has intensified along the western Red Sea coast, alongside intensifying Houthi attacks on oil installations and airports in neighboring Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, Yahya Saree, military spokesperson for the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah or Supporters of God, said the group’s forces carried out “a high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran,” as well as strikes on Riyadh’s airport and a refinery in the capital.

He added that operations “will continue in the coming days, targeting enemy Saudi airports and oil installations.”

A Saudi Energy Ministry official confirmed that a building owned by Aramco in Dhahran was hit, causing a “limited fire” but “no casualties or deaths.” Dhahran is home to Aramco’s headquarters, a large complex comprising numerous buildings and residential complexes.

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition launched strikes against the Houthi stronghold in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which the armed group seized in 2014 and has held ever since. The coalition fought the Houthis, who also seized large amounts of Yemen’s military assets, until a ceasefire was reached in 2022. That ceasefire has broken down in recent months.

Reporting from Sanaa, Al Jazeera’s Yousef Mawry said the war had become a tit-for-tat exchange of blows. The Iran-backed group “will continue to launch these airstrikes and…its goal is to meet fire with fire – airstrike for airstrike, capital for capital, airport for airport, and energy facility for energy facility.”

Which sites have the Houthis targeted in Saudi Arabia?

Recent Houthi strikes against Saudi Arabia have mainly targeted key infrastructure on the outskirts of Riyadh, but they appear to be moving closer to the city center.

Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport over the weekend killed 14 people and injured more than 300 others. Houthi attacks were also reported on other airports, including Abha International Airport in southern Saudi Arabia, where two people were killed, and on Saudi Aramco energy facilities.

Authorities say Riyadh airport will remain closed at least until Saturday as several airlines canceled flights, emptying the skies over the kingdom’s capital.

Al Jazeera’s Mawry said Saudi Arabia “has much more to lose” in tit-for-tat attacks disrupting air traffic, with Sanaa’s international airport closed for many years due to damage it suffered during years of civil war. There are currently no Yemeni airliners at the airport.

Additionally, by disrupting security, the Houthis signal that Saudi Arabia will suffer increasing economic costs due to its involvement in Yemen. Earlier this year, the Houthis also began launching strikes against Saudi-linked shipping in and around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, at the entrance to the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on this sea route for its oil exports since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in March, under fire from the United States and Israel.

The kingdom is set to host a major investment conference in Riyadh later this month, dubbed “Davos in the desert”, but it is not yet clear whether the event will take place amid the attacks.

Organizers of the Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, originally scheduled for next week in Riyadh, have announced that the event will be postponed until December.

Saudi Arabia is also preparing to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034.

Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi, reporting from the Qatari capital Doha, said: “These military strikes by Houthi forces are aimed at creating a pressure campaign that also has economic repercussions. »

“The Gulf Cooperation Council has become the venue for these enormous events over the past year, and if they continue, the international implications for the global economy will continue to be negative,” he added.

What is the situation on the ground in Yemen?

Yemeni government forces are currently engaged in a major counter-offensive operation, dubbed “Yemen Dawn”, to retake coastal territory seized in recent weeks by the Houthis near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital bottleneck for maritime trade.

The Saudi cabinet pledged this week at a meeting led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman not to allow its security or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait to be threatened.

On Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said they had carried out 2,309 “targeting operations” against the Houthis as part of their “Yemen Dawn” military campaign.

Forces spokesman Majeed al-Nuzaili said the operations were carried out using fighter jets, drones, artillery and rocket launchers, and destroyed 460 Houthi military vehicles.

Government forces say they have retaken the areas of Sabr al-Mawadim and al-Sarari in Taiz governorate and repelled a large Houthi attack west of the city of Taiz in southwest Yemen, a government-held town that was besieged by Houthi fighters earlier this month. Taiz Governorate comprises the flat western Red Sea coastal region, which includes the port city of Mocha and Bab al-Mandeb. Much of the governorate also lies in Yemen’s highlands, while its capital, Taiz, is nestled between the mountains.

Al Jazeera’s Mawry said fighting has been so intense in the area because of its strategic value. “He who controls the altitude and takes control of the mountains controls the landscape. He controls the coasts of the Red Sea and even the city of Taiz,” he said.

The internationally recognized Yemeni government is calling for more reinforcements as well as Saudi air attacks against positions recently retaken by the Houthis, mainly in the al-Misrakh district, south of Taiz, and in the at-Turbah district, which are the gateways to the city of Taiz.

Mawry reported that although airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition forced the Houthis to withdraw and retreat, allowing government forces to advance, they failed to take full control of some of these positions.

“It is then followed by another counter-military offensive by the Ansar Allah group to retake the area. And this is a bit of the routine that we have been witnessing since the beginning of September,” he said.

The siege of Taiz by the Houthis led to civilian casualties and severe shortages of fuel, gas and other supplies. On Wednesday, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced that stocks of wheat flour were almost exhausted.

The Red Cross said frontline hospitals in areas including Marib, Taiz and Yemen’s Red Sea coast are seeing unprecedented numbers of weapon-wounded patients, with some facilities admitting more than 700 wounded in a single week.