Houthis celebrate territorial gains after a major offensive operation in western Yemen, in this screengrab from a video released on Sept. 14, 2026. (Credit: Houthi Military Media/Handout via Reuters)
Saudi Arabia warned Tuesday it will react "firmly" to Yemen's Houthis, after a series of attacks carried out by the pro-Iranian rebels using ballistic missiles and drones wounded 13 civilians in the country's south.
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 Riyadh and began targeting its ships in the Red Sea.
The group seized control of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait last week, which has become vital as the wider US-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz, in a significant blow to Yemeni government forces.
It has also targeted the oil infrastructure of Saudi Arabia, the world's leading crude exporter, pushing oil prices above the $100 threshold.
A Houthi strike in western Yemen on Monday killed eight soldiers from government forces, according to two military sources.
The Houthis claimed a new "large-scale" attack using "dozens of ballistic missiles and drones" against the King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait, in southern Saudi Arabia.
Hazem al-Assad from the Houthis' politburo said the "Yemeni response will continue and escalate as long as they (Saudi Arabia) persist in their aggression against our people."
In the early hours of Tuesday, Saudi civil defence issued air-raid alerts in six regions, before lifting them.
The renewed fighting in Yemen comes as the wider regional war remains at a stalemate. But US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was open to holding talks with Iran.
A proposed meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the future of Hormuz was postponed on Monday, with Tehran accusing Riyadh of using Yemen as a "pretext" to delay the talks.
Tehran has long supported the Houthis, a member of its anti-Israel "axis of resistance," including with weapons and technology, but analysts dispute the extent to which Iran is behind the renewed fighting.
US media reported last week Trump had rejected a personal request from the Saudi crown prince to intervene in the war.
The Houthis seized Yemen's capital Sanaa in 2014 at the outset of the civil war, driving the government to Aden in the south.
The following year, Saudi Arabia led a coalition to intervene on the side of the government, launching wave after wave of airstrikes as the conflict escalated into one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world.
The UN's migration agency said Monday the renewed fighting in the Arab world's poorest country had forced 93,864 people to flee their homes.
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