Houthi attacks wound 73, set Saudi oil

A wave of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia early Tuesday wounded 73 people and ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities, according to Saudi authorities. The assault marks a major escalation in the renewed conflict between the kingdom and the Iranian-backed Yemeni rebels, directly threatening global energy infrastructure and shipping lanes.

The attacks targeted civilian and economic sites in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran, and Khamis Mushait, said Major General Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition. The strikes forced the temporary suspension of operations at the affected oil and utility sites in the kingdom's southern region, which houses major facilities like the 400,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery in Jazan.

Major facilities hit in southern region

Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry confirmed fires were ignited at several oil facilities and utilities, with firefighters battling the blazes on Tuesday morning. Major General Turki al-Malki condemned the attacks as a "serious escalation" and a "flagrant violation of the kingdom's sovereignty." He vowed retaliation, stating the coalition "will take all necessary operational measures to deter the terrorist Houthi militia with utmost resolve."

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the strikes. In a prerecorded video statement, the rebels' military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said they fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at oil and economic facilities, as well as an air base. He specified targets included the Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries industrial hub, Aramco facilities in Najran and Abha, and the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait.

Saree framed the attacks as a response to recent Saudi strikes in Yemen, warning that "every aggression against our country and people will be met with a firm response." Nasruddin Amer, a deputy head of the Houthi media office, praised the operation on social media, stating, "The Saudi enemy has to understand that the time for committing crimes and massacres against the Yemeni people without response, deterrence or paying a price has ended."

Escalation follows shattered truce

The latest violence stems from a Houthi attempt to fly a plane from Tehran to Yemen's capital, Sanaa, last week, challenging a long-standing Saudi-led coalition blockade. A coalition airstrike struck Sanaa airport's runway to prevent the landing. The Houthis responded with these attacks on Saudi Arabia and a blockade of Saudi shipping in the Red Sea, effectively ending a 2022 truce that had largely halted major fighting.

The renewed clashes have also intensified inside Yemen. Government forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, report making territorial gains against the Houthis in the provinces of Hodeida, Taiz, and Baydah. The Houthis said a Saudi airstrike hit a prison in Yemen's northern Jawf province hours before their attacks, killing at least seven people including a child.

New displacement crisis in Yemen

The flare-up in fighting has forced approximately 18,500 people to flee their homes in the Taiz and Hodeida provinces of southwestern Yemen, according to the International Organization for Migration. Abdusattor Esoev, IOM Yemen's Chief of Mission, described families arriving with no shelter, food, or knowledge of when it might be safe to return. "Many of these are people who have already been displaced once, twice, even four times before," he said.

The conflict delivers a new shock to a region already destabilized by nearly three years of wars, bringing more uncertainty for the global economy. The fighting threatens to squeeze shipping through the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a critical route for oil and trade off the Arabian Peninsula. This comes as the Iran war has nearly halted shipments through the nearby Strait of Hormuz, which once moved about one-fifth of the world's oil. Yemen's civil war, which began in 2014, has killed at least 150,000 people according to U.N. Estimates.