UPDATE – Yemeni army launches airstrikes on Houthi missile launchers, weapons depots in Taiz

UPDATES WITH HOUTHI STATEMENT

By Mohammed Sami, Ikram Kouachi and Sahin Demir

SANAA, Yemen / ISTANBUL (AA) – The Yemeni army launched airstrikes on Houthi missile launchers and weapons depots in Taiz province in the country’s southwest on Thursday, according to state television.

Yemen Satellite Channel said the attacks hit several Houthi positions, including missile launchers, radars, military communications systems and weapons depots in the western, southern and eastern parts of Taiz.

Taiz has seen rising escalation since July amid fighting between government forces, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, and Houthi fighters.

Meanwhile, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed Thursday that the group had carried out four military operations targeting sites in Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles and drones over the past 48 hours.

In a statement posted on US social media company X, Saree said the attacks targeted the Saudi Defense Ministry building in Riyadh, King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Aramco facilities in Yanbu and Abha International Airport.

He claimed that the strikes directly hit their targets, disrupted operations at Dammam airport and caused a fire at the Aramco facility in Yanbu.

Saree also claimed that Saudi forces had carried out more than 2,900 airstrikes and missile attacks over the past 100 days, killing or injuring more than 562 people.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several other provinces in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.

The Houthis control much of northern and western Yemen, while government forces and their allies hold Aden and large parts of the country’s southern and eastern provinces.

Şahin Demir