Saudi Arabia Vows Retaliation After Houthi Strikes Wound 73

Saudi Arabia has vowed harsh retaliation after Houthi strikes allegedly injured 73 people and disrupted energy facilities across its southern cities. The Iran-aligned group launched attacks on Yemen's south while Riyadh says dozens were wounded as fighting between the two sides sharply escalates. On Tuesday, Houthis claimed they targeted Saudi energy sites owned by Aramco in southern areas with their military spokesperson calling it a broad operation.

Saudi authorities confirmed damage to several facilities and installations related to the energy sector in the south of the country before vowing a firm response. Riyadh also accused the Houthis of wounding at least 73 people during these attacks. The conflict between the Yemeni armed group and Saudi Arabia is unfolding as the Houthis currently fight against Yemen's Riyadh-backed internationally recognized government. That government announced it was launching counteroffensives against Houthi-held positions across several provinces on Monday.

These renewed hostilities represent the most serious violence since a UN-brokered truce halted large-scale fighting in 2022, ending eight years of full-blown conflict that killed tens of thousands in one of the world's poorest nations. The escalation comes as strategic importance grows for Yemen's Bab al-Mandeb Strait amid Iran effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for global oil and gas supplies. Houthis seek to advance toward this vital Red Sea shipping route while government forces say their campaign ultimately aims to retake the Houthi-held capital of Sanaa.

How did the fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis unfold? The Houthis on Monday said Saudi Arabia launched multiple attacks on Houthi-held areas using aircraft and cruise missiles that struck al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Marib and Taiz provinces. Moreover, the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out an air strike on a prison in al-Hazm, the capital of al-Jawf, killing seven people and injuring seven others. Riyadh did not immediately comment on these specific attacks. At the same time, the Houthis claimed to have shot down Saudi reconnaissance drones over al-Jawf and al-Bayda.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Major-General Turki al-Malki, the Saudi spokesman for the Riyadh-led coalition in Yemen, said the Houthis carried out attacks on the Saudi cities of Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran. These strikes injured at least 73 people, among them women and children. According to a statement from Saudi Arabia's Energy Ministry, the strikes also triggered fires at multiple oil installations and utility sites across the kingdom's southern provinces. Southern Saudi Arabia is home to key oil infrastructure including the Jazan refinery, one of the kingdom's largest with capacity to process 400,000 barrels of crude per day.

Shortly after these reports, the Houthis announced they had targeted Saudi energy infrastructure operated by oil giant Aramco in the south using drones and ballistic missiles. The group's military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attacks were retaliation for recent Saudi attacks on Houthi-controlled areas across Yemen. Why is this escalation taking place now? A key focus of the fighting remains the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, the narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden where Houthis declared a blockade against Saudi shipping in July.

Fighting has intensified as the Houthis pressed deeper into government-held zones near al-Makha, also known as Mocha, while pushing toward land bordering the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Government troops fought back with reinforcements and launched counteroffensives of their own in response to these territorial gains.

The strategic weight of this strait has grown dramatically because Iran tightened restrictions on the nearby Strait of Hormuz. That move forced Saudi Arabia to lean heavily on its Red Sea export route for survival. Between March and mid-July, Saudi seaborne crude exports flowing through Bab al-Mandeb jumped eight times higher compared to the same stretch in 2025.

In 2024 alone, roughly 4.1 million barrels of crude oil and petroleum products crossed the strait daily on average. That volume represented about five percent of the global total for that specific year. Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, noted the significance when he said the strait holds importance "when we look at the Houthis' broader strategy."

"The move towards the western coast is not only about gaining territory on the ground," Nagi told Al Jazeera regarding the tactical shifts. "It also has a maritime dimension." He explained that the Houthis have already linked their military campaign directly to the Red Sea and shipping lanes around Bab al-Mandeb. So gaining more control over the western coast could give them greater depth and allow them to sustain pressure on maritime traffic in the Red Sea. In that sense, the ground offensive and their maritime campaign are closely connected according to his analysis.

This latest escalation follows fighting that resumed in July after an Iranian aircraft attempted to land in Sanaa without Saudi authorization. That incident led to strikes on Sanaa airport and Houthi retaliation that altered the battlefield dynamics significantly.

On Sunday, Yemen's internationally recognized government stated its warplanes struck Houthi positions in Hodeidah, Marib, and al-Jawf as fighting spread across several fronts simultaneously. By Monday, government-aligned forces stepped up their counteroffensive with renewed vigor on the ground. They announced a push toward the al-Labanat mountains in al-Jawf while also reporting rocket attacks on Yatma and "intensive battles" with Houthi fighters throughout the province. Government forces claimed advances toward the Dhi Na'im district in al-Bayda as well during these operations.

The Houthis responded by claiming they repelled the advance targeting al-Labanat entirely. They said their defenders inflicted casualties on government-aligned forces during these clashes across multiple sectors of the front lines.

Houthi official Mohammed al-Farah stated his group fired ballistic missiles at reinforcements stationed in al-Jawf. By late Monday, government-aligned troops reported launching further air attacks against Houthi positions located west of Taiz. Al Jazeera could not independently verify the battlefield claims made by either the Houthis or the Yemeni government.

Rashad al-Alimi, who heads Yemen's Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council, said on Monday that government forces had made significant gains against the Houthis. He pointed to advances in al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Taiz and Hodeidah. Our armed forces will continue to carry out their constitutional duty until state institutions are restored and their authority extends over the entire territory of Yemen, al-Alimi said in a statement.

Yemen's deputy defence minister, Major-General Samir al-Sabri, told state television that the government had resolved to retake Sanaa. Majid al-Nuzaili, a spokesperson for government-aligned forces, added that the goal of the offensive was to liberate Yemen from the grip of the Houthis and restore Sanaa as a capital for all Yemenis.

What is the humanitarian situation on the ground? The World Health Organization said on Monday that at least 728 people have been killed or wounded in Yemen since August 23, with the majority in Taiz and along the western coast. It also said an estimated 21,000 people, roughly 3,000 families, have been displaced from Taiz alone since Thursday. Al Jazeera's Yousef Mawry, reporting from Sanaa, noted that the casualty count is expected to rise. These casualties are said to be in the hundreds from both sides, especially as we have reports of air strikes being conducted in the governorate of al-Jawf, he said.

The Crisis Group's Nagi remarked that the world was witnessing significant deterioration in what is already a catastrophic situation. We saw in the past few days a lot of displacement from areas where there has been fighting between the two sides, especially in Taiz, he noted. Those are the direct impacts, but there are also indirect ones. The economic situation is likely to get worse, which will put even more pressure on the humanitarian situation. Ultimately, I think it will depend on how long this round of fighting lasts. The longer the conflict continues, the greater the humanitarian impact will be.

What's next? Analyst Hisham al-Omeisy said the fighting in the war-torn country was no longer simply a domestic one. We are way beyond the concept of it being domestic. It all started with the Houthis pushing to control Bab al-Mandeb and the western coast, to control the chokehold on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula, with the Iranians controlling the Strait of Hormuz, al-Omeisy, a senior Yemen adviser at the European Institute of Peace, told Al Jazeera. This is definitely not domestic, especially when the Houthis have started attacking Saudi Arabia as well for the better part of the last month, and now escalating since today Tuesday.

Domestically, the Crisis Group's Nagi said it was unclear what the outcome of this round of fighting will be, describing the situation on the ground as very fluid. But what we are seeing is that the government seems to be in a stronger position than at any time before, and it sees this round of fighting as an opportunity to consolidate its position and gain more territory from the Houthis, he added, while warning that this did not mean the Houthis were weak. It's true that the Houthis are fighting in Taiz, and they were the ones who launched the offensive against government forces there and made some gains.

On different fronts across al-Jawf, al-Bayda, Marib, and other locations, government troops moved forward to seize several important areas while Houthi fighters retreated into defense positions.

Asked if a victor will emerge from this bloody struggle, analyst al-Omeisy believes a negotiated peace is the only long-term outcome. "Look at the history of Yemen … we always inevitably reach some sort of a deal, so it's not going to be a winner-takes-all," he stated plainly.

He does not expect any serious push to retake Sanaa soon. "I don't imagine there's going to be a push to regain the capital [Sanaa], for instance. It's going to be a bloodbath if they [government-aligned forces] do that." Al-Omeisy warned that Houthi power will suffer heavy blows, yet political talks must follow eventually. "There's going to be a humbling of the Houthi forces. There's going to be losses. But eventually, you will need a political deal," he added with grim certainty.

Saudi analyst Khaled Batarfi sees these strikes as an escalation that demands a response but not necessarily a drawn-out war. "This is an escalation, of course," Batarfi told Al Jazeera regarding the latest attacks. He noted that past Saudi policy tried to avoid civil wars by keeping distance and ignoring retaliatory blows from the south. But now this is too much [of an escalation], he said.

Batarfi explained how the coalition will weigh in on matters since Yemen remains a civil war affecting them as parties involved. "The coalition will have a say on that. This is a civil war inside Yemen, and it affects us as one of the parties." He compared any future action to an eye for an eye principle. But I don't see a prolonged war – not with Iran and not with the Houthis," he concluded without hesitation.