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Camps hit in Yemen
On Thursday, the Iran-aligned Houthis carried out missile and drone strikes on military camps in Yemen’s Marib and Hadramout provinces, killing at least 30 Yemeni government troops and wounding at least 50 others, Yemeni government officials said.
“killed at least 30 government troops and wounded at least 50 others”
NBC News reported that the assaults hit camps for forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, and that a Houthi leader said Saudi-backed troops were targeted and that “hundreds” were either killed or injured.
The New York Times said the Houthis targeted “several camps and units of the Armed Forces deployed in Marib and Hadramout provinces,” and it reported that at least 17 military personnel were killed in Thursday’s attack, citing a coalition statement.
The Guardian added that on Thursday at least 30 Yemeni government troops were killed in Houthi attacks on military camps in Yemen, with some reports putting the death toll as high as 58, as Yemen’s defence ministry said its armed forces would respond “at the appropriate place and time.”
Condemnations and competing tallies
In Yemen, Al Jazeera said the Houthis killed at least 30 government soldiers and injured 15 others in missile attacks on Yemeni military camps in Hadramout and Marib, while Yemeni military sources said casualty numbers were expected to rise.
Al Jazeera also reported that the attack struck at 2pm local time (11:00 GMT) on Thursday, hitting camps belonging to several government military formations including the Homeland Shield Forces and the Emergency Forces, and it quoted Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree saying the attacks led to “hundreds” of casualties.
In Saudi Arabia, the BBC reported that Saudi Arabia also reported 11 civilians injured in the Najran region due to a cross-border Houthi attack, calling it the largest attack on the kingdom since the truce.
The BBC further quoted the coalition spokesman, Major General Turki al-Maliki, expressing condolences to the Yemeni government and people for the “treacherous Houthi attack,” as it described the escalation as the fiercest since 2022 and noted reports of imminent attacks against Riyadh.
What comes next
The Guardian framed the strikes as part of a wider regional spiral, saying Yemen is being increasingly drawn into the US-Israeli war with Iran and that Yemeni sources believed Saudi Arabia was preparing for a major military offensive against the Houthis by sea and possibly by land in central Yemen.
“threatened to reignite Yemen’s long-simmering civil war”
Reuters reported that the Houthis later claimed responsibility for missile and drone strikes targeting what they described as Saudi military deployments in Marib and Hadramout, and it said the group said it launched the operation after detecting what it described as a large Saudi military build-up ahead of an escalation.
The New York Times warned that escalating violence in Yemen imperils a fragile truce, and it said the Houthis targeted “several camps and units of the Armed Forces deployed in Marib and Hadramout provinces,” with the Yemeni defense ministry posting the claim on social media.
In Saudi Arabia, the BBC said the escalation follows the collapse of the truce that had been in place since 2022, and it reported that Saudi officials told AFP that Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan are moving toward signing a joint defense agreement in Jeddah on Friday, amid rapid regional developments.
