Houthi Attacks Injure 11 Civilians, Including 4-Year-Old Child, in Saudi Arabia

More than 10 civilians, including a four-year-old child, were injured in southern Saudi Arabia on Thursday following a series of attacks carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to the Saudi military.

The attacks occurred in Najran, near the Yemeni border, amid a fresh escalation involving the Iran-backed group and Saudi-backed forces in Yemen. Saudi military spokesman Turki al-Malki said the injured included seven Saudi nationals, one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani expatriate.

Al-Malki accused the Houthis of using indiscriminate shelling against civilian areas, calling the attacks a violation of international humanitarian law. The Houthis did not immediately issue a statement regarding the strikes on Najran.

The attacks came hours after the Houthis claimed responsibility for strikes on camps belonging to forces of Yemen’s internationally recognised government in the provinces of Marib and Hadramout. Yemeni officials said the attacks killed at least 30 government troops and wounded around 50 others, although the army publicly confirmed only that there were casualties without providing figures.

Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the group used ballistic missiles and drones, claiming the attacks targeted Saudi-backed forces amid a military build-up in eastern Yemen. He alleged that hundreds of Saudi-backed fighters were killed or wounded and that military camps, weapons depots and vehicles were destroyed.

The US mission to Yemen condemned the attacks, describing them as another example of Houthi violence against Yemenis, while expressing condolences to the families of the soldiers killed.

The latest violence represents a significant escalation despite a de facto truce that has largely halted major fighting between the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition since April 2022.

Yemen has remained embroiled in civil war since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. Saudi Arabia intervened the following year at the head of a coalition supporting the internationally recognised government. The conflict has since evolved into a prolonged proxy war with neither side achieving a decisive victory.