Over 10 Civilians Injured in Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Najran

Over 10 Civilians Injured in Houthi Attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Najran

Riyadh, Aug. 6 [VoM News]: More than 10 civilians, including a four-year-old child, were injured in southern Saudi Arabia on Thursday after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched attacks on the border region of Najran, according to Saudi military officials.

Saudi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki said the attacks wounded seven Saudi nationals, one Yemeni, two Egyptian nationals and one Pakistani expatriate. The strikes reportedly targeted civilian areas near the Yemeni border.

Al-Malki condemned the attacks, accusing the Houthis of deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure in violation of international humanitarian law.

The attacks came hours after the Houthis claimed responsibility for a separate series of missile and drone strikes on military camps in Yemen’s Marib and Hadramout provinces, where at least 30 government soldiers were killed and around 50 others were injured, according to Yemeni officials.

Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the strikes targeted Saudi-backed government forces using ballistic missiles and drones. He claimed the attacks destroyed military camps, weapons depots and vehicles, and alleged that “hundreds” of Saudi-backed fighters were killed or wounded.

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The Yemeni army confirmed that casualties were reported among its troops but did not disclose an official death toll.

The United States Mission to Yemen condemned the Houthi attacks, expressing condolences to the families of the slain Yemeni soldiers and describing the strikes as another example of terrorism against the Yemeni people.

The latest violence marks a significant escalation despite the de facto truce that has largely held since April 2022 between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government.

Yemen has remained embroiled in conflict since 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognised government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the government, leading to a prolonged conflict that has evolved into a regional proxy war.

The Houthis have said their recent escalation, including attacks on Saudi territory and a naval blockade in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb Strait, is in response to the Saudi-led coalition’s military operations and blockade imposed on Yemen since 2015.