Yemen's Houthi movement (Ansarallah) has vowed to retaliate against Saudi Arabia after a wave of airstrikes hit several provinces, including a deadly bombardment of a prison, as heavy fighting between the Iran-backed group and the internationally recognized government entered its fifth day near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Yahya Saree, spokesman for the Houthi-run armed forces, said Monday that "the continuous aggression of the Saudi enemy against Yemen will not go unanswered," warning that Riyadh "must bear the consequences of its crimes against the Yemeni people." He accused Saudi Arabia of intensifying airstrikes, conducting reconnaissance flights and arming what he called its "mercenaries," pointing to a "massacre" in Al-Jawf province.
According to the Houthi-affiliated Saba news agency, a Saudi airstrike struck a prison in Al-Hazm, the capital of Al-Jawf, killing seven people — including a child visiting the facility — and wounding seven others. Saba reported that "the Saudi enemy targeted the provinces of Jawf, Al-Bayda, Marib and Taiz with several airstrikes and cruise missiles." Military sources in government forces confirmed the air raids to AFP, though Saudi Arabia has not officially announced any strikes. The Houthis separately claimed to have shot down four Chinese-made Saudi CH-4 drones over Al-Jawf within 24 hours.
The airstrikes come amid the deadliest flare-up in Yemen since a 2022 UN-brokered truce collapsed in July. The Houthis launched an offensive Thursday aimed at isolating the government-held port city of Mocha and seizing territory near Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow chokepoint linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden — a route that has grown vital for Saudi oil exports amid the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz.
More than 300 combatants and civilians have been killed since the offensive began, according to an AFP tally, with over 140 fighters — 84 government troops and 57 Houthis — killed between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday alone. Government forces said Monday they had secured positions north of Hays and captured the Hayd al-Khazzan, al-Fulaihan and al-Nasifah positions in Al-Bayda, while carrying out 11 airstrikes on Houthi targets. Hundreds of families have fled the fighting around Taiz.
The Houthis also released footage of what they said was a missile strike destroying trucks carrying Saudi military equipment to the Al-Wadiah camp in Hadramawt province.
UN special envoy Hans Grundberg warned Monday that the assault had "triggered increasingly intense clashes," adding that "a return to sustained large-scale fighting will carry grave consequences for civilians and make an already difficult path toward a political settlement even harder."