The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen said on Monday that it had launched fresh attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, targeting the Khamis Mushait air base in the south of the kingdom.
Military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had struck weapons depots, runways and hangars, using dozens of missiles and drones. He said the operation was in response to more than 300 Saudi air strikes in Yemen in recent days.
Saudi Arabia did not immediately comment on the claim. The kingdom has fought the militia for more than a decade alongside Yemen’s internationally recognised government and leads a military coalition in the country.
The Houthis seized northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014 and now control large swathes of territory there. In their latest offensive, they have also advanced further south towards the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait. According to Houthi sources and sources within the Yemeni government, the militia has also captured the strategically located islands of Mayyoun and Hanish.
It remains unclear whether, and for how long, the Houthis can hold the newly seized areas on the west coast and around the port city of Mokha. Since taking them, the group has been subjected to heavy bombardment, according to a spokesman for a Yemeni militia aligned with the government.
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Asil al-Sakaladi of the so-called Giants Brigades said the Houthi offensive was a “catastrophe” for the group and would mark the beginning of its end in Yemen. “There is now an opportunity to wear them down,” he said.
The Houthi offensive has further escalated Yemen’s civil war. At the same time, the group’s gains could allow it to increase pressure on shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait beyond its previous attacks in the area.
The militia has said, however, that it wants to guarantee the safety of shipping there, except for Saudi Arabia, whose vessels it says are subject to a “blockade”.
