Houthis say 28 Saudi attacks on Yemen over past 24 hours

The Houthis have said Saudi Arabia launched 28 strikes in several areas of Yemen in the past 24 hours, as the group and the country's Saudi-backed government clash in the revived civil war.

"The Saudi air force carried out 28 strikes targeting the governorates of Taiz, Al-Jawf, and Marib, using F-15 and Typhoon aircraft that took off from the Khamis Mushait and Taif airbases," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said, in a statement.

This month, the Houthis, who already held most of Yemen's populated areas, launched a lightning offensive to take over the country's entire Red Sea coast, giving them control over the vital Bab Al-Mandab Strait.

The Houthis insist that navigation of the strait is open and free except for Saudi vessels.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthis said yesterday the Iran-backed group fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh at dawn, after a fire broke out near the Saudi capital's international airport.

The war, which began in 2014 with the Houthi capture of the capital Sanaa, had been largely frozen since 2022 but erupted back into life in July.

Saudi Arabia has, since 2015, led a coalition backing the internationally recognised government.

Its intervention escalated the war, which has triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises in the impoverished country.

In 2025, the UN warned that 17 million people in Yemen were struggling to eat and a further million faced extreme hunger.

Earlier, the US warned yesterday that hostilities between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis could "escalate rapidly".

US President Donald Trump cut short a weekend at Camp David, a secluded presidential complex in rural Maryland, to return unexpectedly to the White House yesterday.

The White House gave no explanation for the early return, which comes as a new threshold was crossed in the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, who control a large part of Yemen and are fighting government forces backed by a coalition led by Riyadh.

Loud explosions rang out twice yesterday in the Saudi capital, where AFP journalists saw a fuel tank bearing the logo of oil giant Aramco on fire near the airport.

"This military conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly," the US State Department warned, adding American citizens outside the Middle East should "seriously reconsider travel to and through the region".

The Houthis's lightning offensive seizing swathes of Yemeni territory in recent weeks has left hundreds dead and, according to the UN, displaced more than 110,000 people.

The clashes and the subsequent hostilities with the kingdom have already disrupted Saudi Arabia's exports - the world's leading supplier of crude oil - as well as maritime traffic.

The Riyadh-led coalition confirmed last night on X that a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards the capital was "successfully intercepted and destroyed".

Houthis tried to target 'civilians and civilian infrastructure' - Riyadh

The coalition added that the pro-Iranian fighters had tried to target "civilians and civilian infrastructure" in several cities in the west of the kingdom, including the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, an important export hub for Saudi oil.

It said these attacks were "thwarted by the Gulf monarchy's air defences".

Saudi Arabia has responded with scores of airstrikes on Houthi-held areas but failed to stop the advance.

The Houthis said it had responded to recent Saudi attacks by carrying out "two successful military operations using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles and drones", Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on Telegram.

"The first targeted sensitive sites in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, and the second targeted Aramco facilities in Yanbu."

Saudi authorities had earlier issued an overnight air raid alert.

Hours after the early morning alert, residents said they heard what sounded like a round of explosions echoing through parts of the Saudi capital.

"The area is under a hostile aerial threat," according to a message received just before 3am by Riyadh residents, urging them to stay indoors.

AFP journalists then heard two explosions, before the Saudi civil defence agency lifted the alert half an hour later.

The incident comes days after Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca on Wednesday, denouncing it as a "cowardly terrorist attack" on Islam's holy city, which welcomes millions of pilgrims each year. The Houthis strongly denied the accusation, calling it a "worn-out lie".

The group has reported scores of retaliatory strikes carried out daily by Riyadh since their offensive this month to take over the country's entire Red Sea coast, giving them control over the vital Bab al-Mandab strait.

The US, according to US news platform Axios, last week refused a Saudi request to strike the Houthis.

Washington approved a $24.3bn sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to the kingdom on Thursday to help Riyadh "deter current and future threats", the US State Department said.