Yemen government forces say struck Houthi targets

Yemen's government forces declared on Sunday that they had targeted Houthi positions across the nation, intensifying a conflict that has devastated a nation already among the world's poorest. The armed forces carried out attacks on the Houthis in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate of Saada, an area controlled largely by the rebel group, and Taiz in the southwest, according to military spokesman Colonel Majid al-Nuzaili.

Civil war erupted in Yemen in July following years of relative peace, pitting Iran-backed Houthis, who govern most of the northwest including Sanaa, against the internationally recognized Saudi-backed government based in the city of Aden, which controls the country's southern and eastern regions. The strikes occurred hours after the Houthis reported an attack on an oil facility near Saudi Arabia's capital, where an AFP journalist observed flames and smoke.

The conflict has escalated since the Houthis captured Yemen's Red Sea coast and controlled the Bab al-Mandab strait in a swift offensive last month. Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV reported that Saudi enemy aircraft carried out 26 strikes on Sanaa, though no details on targets or casualties were provided. Two correspondents in Sanaa heard explosions and saw warplanes launching missiles at the city.

Saudi Arabia saw flames and smoke rising from an Aramco facility south of Riyadh on Saturday, with Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claiming the group targeted the facility using ballistic missiles and drones, setting fires at the site. Al-Masirah also reported missile strikes on the telecommunications network in Saada on Saturday. The renewed conflict began after Iran sent a plane to Sanaa with a Houthi delegation without Saudi approval, contradicting a decade-long practice.

Riyadh retaliated with strikes on Sanaa airport, and the Houthis retaliated by attacking Saudi territory for the first time since 2022. Since then, fighting has intensified with the Houthis seizing coastal regions along the Bab al-Mandab strait, attacking Saudi oil infrastructure, and imposing a naval blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.

The renewed hostilities have exacerbated an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Yemen, with the World Food Programme warning in a Friday report that three-quarters of the population lacked access to basic food supplies. Recent fighting has been concentrated in Taiz, where both sides reported significant casualties, with the Houthis citing 55 killed and government sources reporting 26 deaths.