Yemen’s Houthis said Sunday that Saudi Arabia had launched more than 50 strikes against their positions in 24 hours, after the Iran-backed group claimed a rare drone and missile attack on a military base in the kingdom.
The Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudi-backed government forces since Yemen’s civil war reignited in July, when the group declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.
Up to now, the strikes have mainly focused on the front lines, in support of Yemeni government forces, without targeting the Houthis’ heart of power, including the capital Sanaa. The government retaliated by striking Sanaa airport, an attack the Houthis blamed on Saudi Arabia. Yemen’s civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital and forced out the internationally recognised government. The fighting in Yemen in recent weeks has displaced nearly 86,000 people, a UN agency said on Sunday, with the number surging by 10,000 from a day earlier. Earlier reporting noted: Houthis advance in Yemen, attack Saudi Arabia as rebel forces near US base in Djibouti This image taken from video broadcast by Al-Masirah TV, a Houthi-controlled news channel, shows an explosion at the Sanaa International Airport compound during what the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said were several Saudi airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP image) Earlier reporting noted: Fighting intensified in Yemen on Sunday as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea coast, while the Houthis claimed attacks on neighbouring Saudi Arabia, escalating fears of a return to a wider civil war.
Earlier in the day, the Houthis said they used drones and missiles to attack the Sharurah military base in southern Saudi Arabia. Earlier reporting noted: Yemen’s internationally recognised government vowed to deploy more forces to the Red Sea after suffering what it described as a “painful” defeat last week, when the Houthis captured the port city of Mokha and an island near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden. Late on Saturday, the Saudi civil defence agency had said two people were injured after a projectile fired by the Houthis fell in the Jizan region, which also lies along the border.
