Saudi-led coalition strikes back; Heavy airstrikes in Yemen targeting Houthi rebels

RIYADH: Airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition have delivered a heavy retaliation against attacks by Houthi rebels. The Houthi rebel forces said that around 30 airstrikes were carried out in Yemen’s Marib, Al Jawf, Taiz, and Hudaydah regions. However, the Saudi-led coalition has not yet responded to the reports of the attacks.

The Houthi rebels had carried out heavy airstrikes against Saudi Arabia the other day. Seventy-three civilians, including children, were injured in the attacks. The Saudi-led coalition’s strikes are being seen as a retaliation for those attacks.

The Houthis also targeted Aramco oil centres and the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait. Major fires broke out, including at Aramco’s Jizan refinery on the Red Sea coast. The Jizan facility is a massive refinery capable of processing 400,000 barrels of oil per day. Following the attacks, operations at oil facilities in the region were temporarily suspended.

The attack was reportedly the largest Houthi assault on Saudi Arabia this year. The Saudi-led Arab coalition had announced that it would respond strongly to the attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran said it had seized a US unmanned underwater vessel that was conducting surveillance operations in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran had also officially released images of the captured vessel. However, US defence officials said that the underwater vessel had suffered a technical malfunction and did not contain any strategically important information.