Houthis report Saudi air strikes in Yemen as regional conflict threatens energy supplies

Sana’a, Yemen. Saudi warplanes struck Yemen, the Houthis said on Wednesday, as the Iran-backed group consolidated gains following a rapid advance along the Red Sea coast and around the Bab el-Mandeb strait.

The escalation has raised concerns about a worsening regional conflict and further disruption to global energy supplies.

Houthi claims and Saudi air strikes

The Houthis said they had swept through Yemeni towns on the Red Sea coast since last week and seized islands in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, at the mouth of the Red Sea.

The group released overnight battlefield footage that it said showed its fighters capturing armoured vehicles from Saudi-backed forces. The video showed warplanes overhead and large explosions rising from desert dunes.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet. He provided no immediate evidence, and Saudi officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Saree said Saudi forces had carried out up to 450 air strikes on Yemen this week. Officials in Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, which controls southern Yemen, acknowledged that their forces and Saudi Arabia were conducting air strikes on Houthi positions, although Riyadh has not confirmed the operations.

Cross-border attacks

The Houthis have repeatedly fired into Saudi Arabia over the past week, triggering alarms in cities in the country’s south and west.

Saudi Arabia said its air defences shot down a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city. Riyadh said the attack crossed a “red line” by threatening shrines sacred to Muslims.

Saree denied that the Houthis had targeted Mecca, describing Saudi reports as propaganda.

An attack blamed on Iran-aligned fighters in Iraq last week also disabled Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, the main route used to divert oil exports from the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

US warning and contacts with Houthis

The United States tightened its travel warning for Saudi Arabia, barring US government employees from travelling within 20 miles of the Yemen border.

Sources told Reuters that US officials met Houthi representatives in Oman over the weekend. At the meeting, the group said it did not intend to attack American vessels and remained committed to a ceasefire reached with the United States last year.

Energy supply concerns

The extension of the war into Yemen could worsen the global energy supply shortage caused by the six-month-old US-Israeli war on Iran, which has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.