Houthis target Saudi oil facility as hostilities escalate in Yemen

Houthis, an Iran-aligned group, have attacked a Saudi oil facility, reportedly in retaliation for Saudi bombings on Yemen. The ongoing conflict has exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. Iraq's state-owned Oil Tanker Company has transported 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude through the Strait of Hormuz, marking what appears to be the company's first such operation in decades.

The Houthis, who control most of northwestern Yemen, including Sanaa, are engaged in a civil war with Yemen's internationally recognized government based in Aden. Their conflict intensified in July when Iran sent a plane carrying a Houthi delegation to Sanaa without Saudi authorization, violating a decade-old practice. In response to the Houthis seizing the Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes against Sanaa, which the Houthis retaliated against by attacking Saudi territory.

Since then, the fighting has intensified, with the Houthis launching a lightning offensive that led to the seizure of coastal regions along the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The conflict has also resulted in Houthi strikes against multiple Saudi targets, including oil infrastructure and Riyadh. The World Food Programme warned that three-quarters of Yemen's population was struggling to meet its basic food needs due to the renewed hostilities.