Houthi strikes hit Saudi oil sites, injuring 73 as regional energy risks rise
Attacks on Saudi Arabia wounded at least 73 people on Tuesday and sparked fires at oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom, Saudi authorities
Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia wounded at least 73 people on Tuesday and sparked fires at oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom, Saudi authorities said. The strikes hit several southern cities and deepened fears that the fighting in Yemen could spill further into regional energy routes.
The Iran-backed rebels said they had launched drones and missiles in an operation that reached inside Saudi territory, while Saudi officials said the attacks struck civilian and economic sites in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jizan and Najran. Among the injured were children, according to reports from the region.
Oil sites and utility facilities hit
Authorities said the attacks ignited fires at oil-related facilities and other infrastructure. Multiple oil facilities in the region were also targeted, adding pressure to already strained energy supplies.
The strikes came as Saudi Arabia has used alternative shipping routes to move oil to world markets while the Strait of Hormuz has been throttled by the U.S.-Iran war. The latest attacks raised fresh concern over the Bab el-Mandeb, a strategic waterway off the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula that links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
That route matters far beyond Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Any sustained disruption can ripple through global trade and energy markets, especially when other major chokepoints are already under strain.
Renewed fighting in Yemen spills outward
The escalation followed weeks of clashes between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces in Yemen, which shattered a four-year truce in the civil war. The renewed fighting has intensified pressure in a conflict that has already drawn in regional powers and complicated diplomacy for years.
Saudi Arabia accused the Houthis of attacking civilian and economic sites. Major-General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, called the strikes a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of Saudi sovereignty, warning that they threatened the kingdom’s citizens and residents.
The Houthis, who control most of Yemen’s populated areas including the capital Sanaa, also accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out an airstrike on a prison in northern Yemen. A Houthi-run news channel aired video on Monday that it said showed the aftermath of that strike, and the rebels said seven people, including a child, were killed.
The back-and-forth came as the wider region remained under severe strain from the U.S.-Iran war and fighting around key waterways. For Saudi Arabia, Tuesday’s raids showed how quickly the Yemen conflict can reach across borders. Seventy-three injuries. And counting.
