Cairo, Oct 13 (AP) A coalition of forces in Yemen led by Saudi Arabia carried out new airstrikes Tuesday on the Houthi rebel-held Yemeni capital of Sanaa, the Houthi-run broadcaster Al Masirah and residents said.
The strikes marked a fresh escalation in the widening Middle East crisis and came shortly after a coalition spokesman urged residents to evacuate the area for their safety. Witnesses reported hearing strong explosions in Sanaa hours after the coalition struck the al-Suhaba fuel facility west of the city.
In a rare statement earlier, the coalition had urged civilians in the Houthi-controlled capital to leave the Yemeni Oil Company site, on a hill overlooking the capital, and nearby storage areas ahead of a possible strike.
Houthi officials appeared to have anticipated the attack there. The oil company said its storage facilities were empty and that a Saudi strike would not affect oil reserves or supplies for residents. Still, witnesses in the city said lines of cars formed at some gas stations amid fears of a shortage.
Shortly after the warning, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said on Telegram that any Saudi attack on Sanaa would be met with a “firm and painful” response in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
It was unclear whether the Tuesday strike was a signal of military escalation or a carefully measured response to recent deadly attacks on the Riyadh airport.
The warning and the attack show “the Saudis’ aims of upping the ante and striking deep in the heart of Houthi-controlled territory while attempting to control the narrative by presenting themselves as more careful and humanitarian actors than the Houthis,” said Adam Baron, a fellow at the Washington-based New America Institute.
“It may be a warning — or it may be a sign of things to come,” he said.
Fighting surged over control of a key waterway
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Saudi Arabia is still scrambling to determine how its air defences failed to intercept a barrage of missiles and drones fired by the Houthis, including an attack on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday that killed at least 13 people and wounded over 300.
The latest conflict between the Saudis and the Houthis began last month after the rebels seized key areas along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a critical waterway for the transport of Gulf oil and other goods at the southern end of the Red Sea off Yemen.
The Saudi-led coalition, backing forces aligned with Yemen’s internationally recognised government, has been trying to retake them.
Saudi Arabia’s Cabinet on Tuesday warned the Houthis they would “face consequences” for their repeated attacks on the kingdom.
“The Kingdom will not allow any threat to its security or to freedom of maritime navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb Strait,” the Cabinet said in a statement carried by Saudi state-owned Al-Ekhbariya television. The Bab el-Mandeb is another area key to the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
The fight for a major Yemeni city
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On Tuesday, Yemen’s interior ministry said in a statement on X that Houthi strikes over the past day on Taiz, a major city in the country’s southwest, had killed six people and injured 18 amid ongoing battles in the region.
A commander with the Saudi-backed forces said rebels had fought through fierce resistance to reach the edges of Taiz, and some had entered the city. The fight was now critical for Taiz, which has long been a sought-after prize, he said.
The commander, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe battlefield details, said rebel forces were surprisingly large and bolstered by medium- and short-range ballistic missiles.
But he said the fighting was fiercest over control of the Kahboub mountains, which overlook Bab al-Mandeb and Aden, seat of the internationally backed government. The commander said his forces have called for reinforcements.
Earlier Tuesday, the Houthis renewed their warning against using Saudi airspace, Houthi-controlled media reported. Several airlines have suspended service to the kingdom because of the Houthi attacks on airports.
In a statement published by the Houthi-controlled SABA news agency, the Houthi-run foreign ministry referred to Saudi Arabia as the “Kingdom of the Horn of Satan” and said the kingdom “must realise that security, stability, and sovereignty must belong to everyone; otherwise, no one will enjoy them.”
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for the Houthis to immediately halt attacks on Saudi Arabia.
“There is no justification for these attacks, and they cannot be accepted,” Abdelatty told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a phone call Tuesday.
Abdelatty also called for prioritising diplomacy and a political solution to the conflict between Iran and the United States to avert “further escalation and instability” in the region, according to the Egyptian readout of the call.
The Saudi-led coalition said earlier Tuesday that three drones had been intercepted north of Riyadh. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify that claim.
Saudi Arabia has been pushing for the US military to provide more direct support in the fight against the Houthis.
The US has provided intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for a Saudi-led offensive, but has held off on carrying out strikes against the Houthis.
A US intervention could prompt the Houthis to try to halt shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb.
(PTI News)
