Houthi Attack Wounds 11 in Southern Saudi Arabia as Yemen Conflict Escalates

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – An attack by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels wounded 11 people in southern Saudi Arabia late on Thursday, marking the highest number of casualties inside the kingdom in more than four years of conflict.

According to a statement carried by Saudi Arabia's official news agency, coalition spokesman Gen. Turki al-Maliki said the attack struck the border region of Najran. The injured included seven Saudi nationals, two Egyptians, one Yemeni, and one Pakistani.

The attack came as the Houthis have intensified strikes against Saudi Arabia and Yemen's internationally recognized government since last month, saying their actions are in support of Iran during its conflict with the United States.

Earlier on Thursday, at least 58 Yemeni government troops were killed in Houthi missile and drone attacks targeting military positions in central and eastern Yemen, according to a Yemeni military source.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the strikes were aimed at government forces in response to what he described as a Saudi-backed military buildup. Yemen's Defense Ministry vowed to retaliate "at the appropriate place and time."

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition backing Yemen's internationally recognized government against the Houthis since 2015.

Yemen, already devastated by more than a decade of war, has become increasingly entangled in the wider regional confrontation centered on Iran. The Houthis, who control the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen, abandoned a largely successful 2022 truce after welcoming a direct Iranian flight to the rebel-held capital and later announcing a maritime blockade of Saudi ports.

Since then, the group has stepped up attacks on Yemeni government forces and Saudi-linked targets. Last month, the Houthis killed 16 government-aligned troops south of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah, according to medical sources.

The Yemen conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.