{"id":8930,"date":"2026-10-15T11:16:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=8930"},"modified":"2026-10-15T11:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:16:29","slug":"fighting-in-yemen-intensifies-whats-the-latest-on-the-battlefield-houthis-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=8930","title":{"rendered":"Fighting in Yemen intensifies: What\u2019s the latest on the battlefield? | Houthis News"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Forces aligned with Yemen\u2019s government on Thursday said that they had intercepted a drone headed towards Medina in Saudi Arabia, and a missile fired towards Riyadh, amid escalating fighting between them and Yemen\u2019s Houthi group.<\/p>\n

Fighting between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels has intensified\u00a0along the country\u2019s western Red Sea coast, along with expanding Houthi attacks<\/a> on oil facilities and airports in neighbouring Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n

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Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n

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On Wednesday, Yahya Saree, the military spokesman for the Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah or Supporters of God, said the group\u2019s forces had conducted \u201ca high-quality military operation targeting Aramco in Dhahran\u201d, as well as strikes on Riyadh airport<\/a> and a refinery in the capital.<\/p>\n

He added that operations \u201cwill continue in the coming days, targeting Saudi enemy airports and oil facilities\u201d.<\/p>\n

A Saudi Ministry\u00a0of\u00a0Energy official confirmed that a building belonging to Aramco in Dhahran was hit, resulting in a \u201climited fire\u201d but \u201cno casualties or fatalities\u201d. Dhahran is home to Aramco\u2019s headquarters, a vast complex comprising numerous buildings and residential compounds.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Saudi-led coalition launched strikes against the Houthi stronghold in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, which the armed group seized in 2014 and has held ever since. The coalition fought the Houthis, who also seized large quantities of Yemen\u2019s military assets, until a ceasefire was agreed in 2022. That ceasefire\u00a0has broken down in recent months.<\/p>\n

Reporting from Sanaa, Al Jazeera\u2019s Yousef Mawry said the war has become a tit-for-tat exchange of blows. The Iran-backed group \u201cwill continue to launch these air strikes and \u2026 its goal is to meet fire with fire \u2013 air strike for air strike, capital for capital, airport for airport, and energy facility for energy facility\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"INTERACTIVE<\/p>\n

Which sites have the Houthis targeted in Saudi Arabia?<\/h2>\n

Recent Houthi strikes on Saudi Arabia have mainly targeted key infrastructure on the outskirts of Riyadh, but they appear to be edging closer to the city centre.<\/p>\n

Houthi attacks on Riyadh\u2019s King Khalid international airport<\/a> over the weekend killed 14 people and wounded more than 300 others. Houthi attacks have also been reported on other airports, including Abha international airport in southern Saudi Arabia, where two people were killed, and on Saudi Aramco energy facilities.<\/p>\n

Authorities say Riyadh airport will remain shut at least until Saturday as several airlines cancelled flights, emptying the skies over the kingdom\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Mawry said Saudi Arabia \u201chas much more to lose\u201d from tit-for-tat attacks disrupting air traffic, as Sanaa international airport has been closed for many years due to the damage it has sustained over the years of civil war. There are currently no Yemeni airliners at the airport.<\/p>\n

Additionally, by disrupting security, the Houthis are signalling that Saudi Arabia will suffer mounting economic costs for its involvement in Yemen. Earlier this year, the Houthis similarly began launching strikes on Saudi-linked shipping in and around the Bab al-Mandeb strait at the entrance to the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on this shipping route for oil exports since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz in March, under fire from the United States and Israel.<\/p>\n

The kingdom is set to host a major investment conference in Riyadh later this month, dubbed \u201cDavos in the desert\u201d, but it is now unclear whether the event will go ahead amid the attacks.<\/p>\n

Organisers of the Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, originally slated to begin next week in Riyadh, have announced the event will be pushed to December.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia is also preparing to host the FIFA World Cup in 2034.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Zein Basravi, reporting from the Qatari capital, Doha, said, \u201cThese military hits by the Houthi forces are meant to create a pressure campaign that is also having knock-on economic effects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Gulf Cooperation Council has become a place where these enormous events have been playing out over the past year, and if they carry on, the international implications for the global economy will continue to be negative,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the situation on the ground in Yemen?<\/h2>\n

Yemeni government forces are currently engaged in a major counteroffensive operation, called \u201cDawn of Yemen<\/a>\u201c, to retake coastal territory seized in recent weeks by the Houthis near the Bab al-Mandeb strait<\/a>, a vital maritime trade chokepoint.<\/p>\n

The Saudi cabinet pledged in a meeting led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week that it \u201cwill not allow its security or freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb strait to be threatened\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Yemeni government forces said they had carried out 2,309 \u201ctargeting operations\u201d against the Houthis as part of their \u201cDawn of Yemen\u201d military campaign.<\/p>\n

The forces\u2019 spokesperson, Majeed al-Nuzaili, said the operations were conducted using combat aircraft, drones, artillery and rocket launchers, and destroyed 460 Houthi military vehicles.<\/p>\n

Government forces say they have retaken areas in Sabr al-Mawadim and al-Sarari in Taiz governorate<\/a> and have repelled a large Houthi attack west of Taiz city in southwest Yemen, a government-held city that was besieged by Houthi fighters earlier this month. Taiz governorate includes the flat, western coastal region on the Red Sea, which contains the port city of Mocha and the Bab al-Mandeb. Much of the governorate also lies within Yemen\u2019s highlands while its capital, Taiz, is nestled between mountains.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera\u2019s Mawry said fighting has been so intense in the area because of its strategic value. \u201cWhoever controls the altitude and gains control of the mountains controls the landscape. They control the Red Sea coastlines and even the city of Taiz,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The internationally recognised Yemeni government has been calling for more reinforcements as well as Saudi air attacks on the positions recently taken over by the Houthis, mainly in the district of al-Misrakh, south of Taiz, and the district of at-Turbah, which are the gateways to the city of Taiz.<\/p>\n

Mawry reported that while the Saudi-led coalition\u2019s aerial strikes are forcing the Houthis to withdraw and retreat, allowing government forces to advance, they have not been able to gain a full hold over some of those positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is then followed by another counter-military offensive by the Ansar Allah group to retake the area. And this is sort of the routine that we have been seeing since early September,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Houthi siege of Taiz has resulted in civilian casualties and severe shortages of fuel, gas and other supplies. On Wednesday, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reported that wheat flour stocks have been nearly exhausted.<\/p>\n

The Red Cross said front-line hospitals in areas including Marib, Taiz and Yemen\u2019s Red Sea coast \u2060are registering unprecedented numbers of weapon-wounded patients, with some facilities admitting more than \u2060700 casualties in a single week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Forces aligned with Yemen\u2019s government on Thursday said that they had intercepted a drone headed towards Medina in Saudi Arabia, and a missile fired towards Riyadh, amid escalating fighting between them and Yemen\u2019s Houthi group. Fighting between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and Iran-aligned Houthi rebels has intensified\u00a0along the country\u2019s western Red Sea coast, along…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-international-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t