Escalation of fighting in Yemen; repeated warnings in southern Saudi Arabia and claims of Houthi advances

🔸Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the 19th of Shahrivar, after issuing the fourth emergency warning in less than 24 hours, in Khamis Mushait in the southwest of the country, said that the danger had been averted.

🔸At the same time, media outlets close to the Houthis claimed a major advance on the western front in Ta‘izz province in Yemen.

🔸Saudi Arabia did not provide further details about the origin of the warning, but this is the latest sign of the intensification of clashes between Riyadh and the Houthis supported by the Iranian government, which has been ongoing in recent days both inside Yemen and on Saudi soil.

🔸The Saudi-led coalition says that on Wednesday, the Houthis targeted the cities of Khamis Mushait, Abha, and Jazan with ballistic missiles and drones, and that their attacks on Saudi Arabia’s “national assets and infrastructure” have continued.

🔸A day earlier, four cities—Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan, and Najran—had been targeted by one of the most extensive Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent months.

🔸The Saudi-led coalition says that at least 73 people, including women and children, were injured in these attacks. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy also said that several energy-sector facilities were hit; in some of them, fires broke out, and the operation of a number of facilities was temporarily suspended.

🔸The Houthis have taken responsibility for the attacks and said that using “dozens” of ballistic missiles and drones, they targeted the King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait and the facilities of the Aramco company in several southern cities of Saudi Arabia.

🔸Read the full text of this report on the Radio Farda website.