Here’s What We Know About the Houthi Drone and Missile Attacks on Saudi Arabia

image

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a large drone and missile attack on Saudi Arabia overnight, targeting the Jazan region and the Aramco refinery near King Abdullah Airport. The Houthis claim the attacks are retaliation for Saudi airstrikes across Yemen over the weekend.

Advertisement

Here’s more:

The attack was a major escalation in renewed fighting between an important U.S. ally and the Iranian proxy group. It also threatened to further destabilize a region rocked by nearly three years of wars and deliver a new blow to the global economy.

Weeks of clashes have added pressure to limited global oil supplies as the Houthis target a shipping route Saudi Arabia has used to transport oil to world markets while the Strait of Hormuz is throttled due to the U.S.-Iran war. Tuesday’s attacks hit Saudi oil facilities connected to the alternative route, the Bab el-Mandeb, a strategic waterway off the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf Aden.

The conflict between Saudi Arabia, one of the U.S.’s closest Mideast allies, and the Houthis, a Shiite militant group armed and trained by Iran, goes back years.

The new fighting has threatened to reignite the country’s civil war, which began in 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen and forced the government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to try to restore the government to power.

Recommended

Advertisement

The Associated Press is reporting that 73 people were wounded, per Saudi authorities. This includes children.

Several energy facilities near Yemen halted operations after the strikes.

Video shared on X shows oil facilities and utilities on fire in the southern part of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has vowed to respond to the attacks.

The country apparently plans to “finish the job” against the Houthis following these strikes.

Advertisement

There have reportedly been Saudi-led attacks in the Marib district of Yemen.

Pakistan has condemned the attacks.

So did Qatar.

Advertisement

The Associated Press says the fighting could reignite the civil war that started in Yemen in 2014. During that war, the Houthis seized the capital and much of northern Yemen, forcing the government into exile. In 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore that government to power.

The Houthis are part of a network of Iranian-backed proxies across the Middle East who have stepped up attacks in response to Israel’s war in Gaza and the U.S.-led efforts against Iran.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are once again respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

Help us continue to report on the administration’s peace through strength foreign policy and its successes. Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.