Houthis report dozens of Saudi strikes as fighting nears Saudi border
Yemen's Houthis reported fresh Saudi airstrikes on Wednesday. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said "Saudi warplanes launched 40 airstrikes ... targeting the provinces of Taiz, Marib, and Hodeidah over the past 24 hours."
He had previously put the number of Saudi strikes launched over the past week at more than 450, saying that in response, the group had targeted a Saudi air base and a state oil company facility in the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.
The group also claimed on Wednesday to have shot down a Saudi fighter jet.
The strikes come after Riyadh accused the group of launching a "cowardly" attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca.
The Houthis swiftly rejected as a "lie" Riyadh's early morning statement that it had shot down a drone heading towards Mecca.
Renewed fighting between the Houthis and Yemen's Riyadh-backed government has dragged in the kingdom, after the Houthis declared a maritime blockade on Saudi ships in the Red Sea.
Last week, the Houthis seized control of the entirety of Yemen's Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, a vital artery for Saudi oil exports as the wider Middle East war chokes off the Strait of Hormuz shipping route.
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