Houthi forces on September 13 announced that they had used drones and missiles to attack a military base in southern Saudi Arabia, amid renewed fighting with Yemeni government forces forcing more and more civilians to leave their homes.
The attack targeting Sharurah base targeted "weapon depots and command and control centers that are directing acts of aggression against our country and people," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree wrote on social network X. The timing of the operation was not specified.
Clashes between Houthi and Yemeni government forces have increased in the past week.
On September 12, Yemeni forces said they attacked Houthi gunmen in the city of Mocha on the Red Sea coast, then attacked more locations in the southwest of the country. "The Air Force of the Armed Forces targeted Houthi positions and barracks with 3 airstrikes," the Yemeni army announced on X.
Meanwhile, Yemeni forces "destroyed vehicles, weapons and killed members of the Houthi terrorist militia" near Mocha port. On the contrary, the Houthi claimed that in the previous 48 hours, "Saidian enemy aircraft carried out 129 airstrikes" into areas controlled by this group.
Saudi Arabian officials said that a Houthi missile fell in the area near the border, hours after warnings of attack risk were issued. According to the civil defense agency, the incident injured "two people and caused material damage to a mosque, many buildings and vehicles".
The current clashes are a continuation of the Houthi's week-long offensive, culminating in this group's seizure of the remaining part of the Red Sea coastline in Yemen and some strategic islands, thereby consolidating control of the Bab al-Mandab strait at the southern gateway to the Red Sea.
This waterway has become an important lifeline for Saudi Arabia's oil exports, after Iran almost cut off shipments through the Gulf region by blockading the Ormuz Strait at the beginning of the Middle East war. Houthi recently announced a sea blockade of Riyadh's ports in the Red Sea.
