Houthi attack: Pakistani among injured

Saudi-backed Yemeni govt forces death toll hits 58

DUBAI:

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country's civil war in four years.

The escalation spilled across the border on Thursday, with Saudi officials saying Houthi attacks wounded 11 civilians in the southern Najran region.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the wounded included seven Saudis, a Yemeni, two Egyptians and a Pakistani, according to a statement carried in the official Saudi Press Agency.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels attacked government positions with ballistic missiles and drones in response to an alleged military buildup backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The attacks killed at least 58 government troops and injured dozens, according to the military source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Medical sources had earlier spoken of 38 dead. A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thursday's attacks on troop camps were the worst in Yemen since 2022.

Yemen's defence ministry said in a statement that its armed forces would respond to the attacks "at the appropriate place and time".

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition backing Yemen's government against the Houthis since 2015.

Al-Malki accused the rebels of carrying out "indiscriminate shelling against civilian objects" and said coalition forces would continue taking measures to protect civilians.

The rebels have ramped up the provocations against their Saudi foes since last month, adding to the regional chaos since the US-Iran war erupted on February 28.

The military official told AFP that a camp in the al-Ruwaik area of Marib province, in central Yemen, had been attacked, as well as in the Al-Abr and Al-Wadiah areas of Hadramawt, near the border with Saudi Arabia.

One missile attack hit troops during their morning formation at the camp in Marib, "killing and wounding at least 45 personnel", said a military source, who declined to be named for security reasons.

Saree named Al-Ruwaik, al-Thaniyah and al-Abr as being among the areas hit, warning the rebels were "prepared to confront any escalation".

Yemen, which has been embroiled in more than a decade of war, became sucked into the Middle East war last month as the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels upended a 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed government.

The rebels welcomed an Iranian plane directly in the capital Sanaa, triggering tit-for-tat attacks. They later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi ports and began hitting its tankers.

Last month, the Houthis killed 16 troops in an attack on government-aligned forces south of the port

city of Hodeidah, two medical officials told AFP.