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Yemen War
Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck Yemeni government forces with ballistic missiles on Monday, killing at least 53 soldiers at a military camp in one of the deadliest attacks since a resurgence in fighting this summer, Yemeni military officials said. The attack wounded an additional 200 recruits at the military camp in the southern province of Shabwa, the provincial government there said. The rebels acknowledged targeting the camp. The fighting between the Houthis and Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces is a widening front in the Iran war that began in February. The escalation shattered a 2022 ceasefire deal that largely stopped fighting in Yemen's civil war. The Houthis have put their growing military capabilities on display on multiple fronts in recent weeks, repeatedly striking Saudi Arabia's main international airport hundreds of miles (kilometers) away and seizing territory inside Yemen near a key shipping chokepoint. In a sign that the Houthi attacks are unsettling Saudi ...
Two missiles struck the airport in Yemen's port city of Aden on Friday night, police said, blaming Iran-backed Houthi rebels for the second such attack in less than a week. Police said no casualties were reported as fighting escalates in the latest front in the Iran war, one in which the rebels have attacked both neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Yemen's internationally recognized government that's backed by the kingdom. A security official and a traffic controller said an area of the Aden airport that hosts a military unit aligned with the Saudi-backed government was hit. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack came a day after the Houthis carried out a deadly strike on a palace complex in Aden, which has been the seat of the internationally recognized government since 2015.
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
Saudi Arabia said three people were injured in the latest attacks on its airports since fighting with Yemen's Houthi rebels reignited. Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City killed one person. Nearly three years after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, conflict in the Middle East has persisted almost without interruption, spreading across the region, including to Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen. Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Monday. Full coverage is available here. Saudis says 2 airports were hit as fighting grinds on with Houthis ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saudi Arabia on Tuesday acknowledged that two of its airports were attacked, leaving three lightly injured, hours after the Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they fired missiles and drones at the kingdom. The attacks were the latest in the conflict between the kingdom and the Houthis in neighbouring Yemen. Sa
At various times over the last decade, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Britain and Israel have carried out punishing air raids on Yemen's Houthi rebels -- only to see them grow even stronger. Now, as the Iran-backed Houthis advance on a key maritime chokepoint and strike Saudi oil facilities, rattling world markets, there is little that can be done to stop them that hasn't been tried before. That's because the Houthis operate in a large and mountainous territory where they can disperse fighters and military infrastructure while threatening major oil infrastructure and key trade routes. Iran and its allies in Lebanon and Iraq provide expertise, training and sophisticated weapons, according to UN and other experts, and the Houthis' hard-line ideology does the rest. "They are the most committed, the most ideologically pure and the most aggressive" of Iran's regional allies, says Michael Knights, who has written extensively about the Houthis and is now head of
The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday, as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea and Houthis fired into neighbouring Saudi Arabia, which supports Yemen's government. The Yemeni government vowed to send more forces to the Red Sea coast and one official conceded a "painful" defeat last week when Houthis captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping alternative to the Strait of Hormuz. The escalation -- especially Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and its shipping in the Red Sea -- adds pressure on global oil supplies and prices, and that could give Iran leverage in its war with the United States. As Yemen risks descending into another civil war, the United Nations estimated that more than 80,000 people in the impoverished country have been displaced by the fighting since the start of September. One woman said a mortar shell fell nearby as she fled in the middle of the night
Saudi Arabia said Tuesday that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade of the kingdom. The attacks underscored lingering tensions despite a period of calm between the United States and Iran, neither of which has announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the Strait of Hormuz. The Saudi Defence Ministry said in a statement that air defences intercepted and destroyed several drones that had attempted to target petroleum facilities in the nation's eastern region. It said the attacks were "once again launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iran-affiliated terrorist militias." Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. The Iraqi military said in a statement that Iraq is committed to "preventing Iraqi territo
An Indian national who had been stranded on Socotra Island in Yemen for the past few weeks has been successfully evacuated and returned to India, according to India's mission in Yemen."Indian national Ms. Rakki Kishan Gopal, who was stranded on Socotra Island in Yemen for the past few weeks, was successfully evacuated on a special Yemenia flight to Jeddah on Jan 7. She was received by officials of the @CGIJeddah & subsequently returned to India this morning," the Indian mission in Yemen said in a post on X.The evacuation comes amid heightened political and military tensions in Yemen, which have disrupted air travel and stranded civilians and foreign nationals in several parts of the country.Yemeni government forces backed by Saudi Arabia have recently completed the transfer of control over all military sites in the eastern governorates of Hadramout and al-Mahra after reclaiming them from the United Arab Emirates-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), Yemeni media reported, .
A new airstrip is being built on a volcanic island in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, satellite images show, likely the latest project by forces allied to those opposed to the country's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. The airstrip on Zuqar Island provides yet another link in a network of offshore bases in a region key to international shipping, where the Houthis already have attacked over 100 ships, sank four vessels and killed at least nine mariners during the Israel-Hamas war. It could give a military force the ability to conduct aerial surveillance over the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the strategic, narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the two waterways off East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Still, it remains unclear what would trigger the airstrip to be used for a military campaign. The United Arab Emirates, which has built other runways in the region, did not respond to requests for comment. Nor did Yemen's anti-Houthi forces, divided by warring interests and unable t
Israel's military launched airstrikes early Monday targeting ports and facilities held by Yemen's Houthi rebels, with the rebels responding with missile fire targeting Israel. The attacks came after a suspected Houthi attack targeting a ship in the Red Sea that caught fire and took on water, later forcing its crew to abandon the vessel. The Israeli military said it struck Houthi-held ports at Hodeida, Ras Isa and Salif. These ports are used by the Houthi terrorist regime to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are employed to carry out terrorist operations against the state of Israel and its allies, the Israeli military said. The Houthis then responded with an apparent missile attack on Israel. The Israeli military said it attempted to intercept the missile, but it appeared to make impact, though there were no immediate reports of injuries from the attack.
The Israeli navy attacked docks in Yemen's rebel-held port city of Hodeida on Tuesday, likely damaging facilities that are key to aid shipments to the hungry, war-wracked nation. The Israeli military said navy missile ships conducted the strikes, the first time its forces have been involved in attacks against the Houthi rebels. Tuesday's attack comes as the Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles and drones targeting Israel during its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis announced the attack via their al-Masirah satellite news channel. They said the attack targeted docks there, without elaborating. Late Monday, Israel issued online warnings to Yemenis to evacuate from Ras Isa, Hodeida and al-Salif ports over the Houthis' alleged use of seaports for attacks. The port is used to transfer weapons and is a further example of the Houthi terrorist regime's cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure in order to advance terrorist activities, the Israeli military said in a ..
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's ordering a halt to nearly two months of U.S. airstrikes on Yemen's Houthis, saying the Iran-backed rebels have indicated that they don't want to fight anymore and have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital global trade route. We're going to stop the bombing of the Houthis, effective immediately, Trump said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. That likely means an abrupt end to a campaign of airstrikes that began in March, when Trump promised to use overwhelming lethal force after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel's mounting another blockade on the Gaza Strip. At the time, they described the warning as affecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea. Trump said the Houthis had indicated to U.S. officials that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. And we w
The British military launched airstrikes with the United States targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said early Wednesday, their first involvement with America's new intense campaign targeting the Iranian-backed group. The United Kingdom offered a detailed explanation of its reason to launch the strike, in a departure from the US, which has offered few details about the more than 800 strikes it has conducted since beginning its campaign March 15. The campaign, called Operation Rough Rider, has been targeting the rebels as the Trump administration negotiates with their main benefactor, Iran, over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear programme. UK strike hit near Yemen's capital, Sanaa The UK's Defence Ministry described the site attacked as a cluster of buildings, used by the Houthis to manufacture drones of the type used to attack ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, located some 25 kilometres south of Sanaa. Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4s took part in the raid, dropping Pave
US airstrikes targeting Yemen's capital killed at least eight people overnight, the Houthi rebels said Monday, as the American military acknowledged carrying out over 800 individual strikes in their monthlong campaign. The overnight statement from the US military's Central Command also said its Operation Roughrider targeting the rebels had killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including those associated with its missile and drone program. It did not identify any of those officials. The US insisted it would continue to carry out its airstrikes, which began March 15 under President Donald Trump as he seeks a deal with Iran over its rapidly advancing nuclear programme. Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis, the statement said. The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime. It added: "We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedo
Houthi rebels in Yemen have shot down seven US Reaper drones in less than six weeks, a loss of aircraft worth more than USD 200 million in what is becoming the most dramatic cost to the Pentagon of the military campaign against the Iran-backed militants. According to defence officials, three of the drones were shot down in the past week suggesting the militants' targeting of the unmanned aircraft flying over Yemen has improved. The drones were doing attack runs or conducting surveillance, and they crashed both into the water and onto land, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. The US has increased its attacks on the Houthis, launching daily strikes since March 15, when President Donald Trump ordered a new, expanded campaign. He promised to use overwhelming lethal force until the Houthis cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The US has done more than 750 strikes on the Houthis since that new effort ...