73 injured in Houthi attacks on Saudi cities: Saudi-led coalition

DUBAI: Seventy-three people, including women and children, were injured in Saudi Arabia after Houthi attacks targeted several cities, the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Tuesday.

The attacks struck Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, according to the coalition spokesperson.

The spokesperson, in a statement posted on X, said the attacks targeted civilian and economic sites and warned that the coalition would take a firm response.

The attacks came as the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out airstrikes in several parts of Yemen. According to the Houthi-run Saba news agency, Saudi forces targeted locations in Al Jawf, Al Bayda, Marib and Taiz using airstrikes and cruise missiles. The Houthis also accused Saudi Arabia of striking a prison in the northern city of Al Hazm, claiming seven people, including a child, were killed and at least seven others, including a woman, were injured.

According to Al Jazeera, Houthi-run Health Ministry spokesperson Anis Al-Asbahi said the strike hit a central correctional facility in Al Jawf province. Houthi television channel Al Masirah broadcast footage purportedly showing the aftermath, including a collapsed building and people searching through the rubble. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the allegation of a prison strike. Major General Al-Maliki said the coalition’s joint command would take all necessary military measures to prevent what he called the “terrorist militia” from pursuing its offensive objectives, adding that the measures would be aimed at defending Saudi sovereignty, protecting national assets and ensuring the safety of citizens and residents. Meanwhile, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out a “massacre” in Yemen, alleging that Saudi aircraft were conducting reconnaissance flights and supplying weapons to mercenaries.

He also claimed that the Houthis had shot down four Saudi reconnaissance drones over the past 24 hours, including a CH-4 drone. Fighting between the Houthis and Yemen’s internationally recognised government has intensified in recent weeks. The Houthis, who refer to themselves as Ansar Allah and are allied with Iran, control large parts of northern Yemen, the Red Sea coastline and the capital Sanaa, while Saudi Arabia supports government forces.

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has urged the sides to immediately halt the fighting and exercise maximum restraint, warning that the latest escalation could develop into a wider war. Prisons have repeatedly been hit during Yemen’s decade-long conflict. In 2022, a Saudi-led coalition strike on a detention centre in Saada province killed at least 87 detainees and injured around 266, while more than 100 people were killed in a 2019 strike on a Houthi-run detention facility in Dhamar province.