CAIRO, Sept 8: A wave of attacks by the Iranian backed Houthi rebels on Saudi Arabia early Tuesday left 73 people injured, Saudi authorities said, as tensions escalated amid renewed fighting in Yemen.
Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, spokesman for the Saudi led coalition fighting in Yemen, said the Houthis targeted what he described as “civilian and economic facilities” in the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait.
Al-Malki said the coalition would respond firmly to the attacks and take all necessary operational measures against the Houthi militia.
“The Saudi-led coalition will take all necessary operational measures to deter the terrorist Houthi militia with utmost resolve,” he said.
The latest strikes followed accusations by the Houthis that Saudi Arabia had carried out an attack on a prison in Yemen’s northern Jawf province.
The exchange comes amid a weeks long surge in hostilities between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi backed government forces. The renewed violence has effectively shattered a four year truce that had brought relative calm to the country’s prolonged civil war.
The latest escalation has raised fresh concerns over the security situation in the wider region, as Saudi Arabia and the Houthis remain on opposing sides of Yemen’s conflict.