West Asia conflict escalates: Saudi Arabia vows to respond 'firmly' to attacks by Yemen's Houthis

Saudi Arabia warned Tuesday it will react firmly to Yemens Houthis after a series of attacks carried out by the proIranian rebels using ballistic missiles and drones wounded 13 civilians in the countrys southThe Houthis have been engaged in renewed fighting with Saudibacked government forces since Yemens civil war reignited in July when the group declared a maritime blockade on Riyadh and began targeting its ships in the Red SeaThe group seized control of Yemens Red Sea coast and the Bab alMandab Strait last week which has become vital as the wider USIran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz in a significant blow to Yemeni government forcesIt has also targeted the oil infrastructure of Saudi Arabia the worlds leading crude exporter pushing oil prices above the 100 thresholdA Houthi strike in western Yemen on Monday killed eight soldiers from government forces according to two military sourcesThe Houthis claimed a new largescale attack using dozens of ballistic missiles and drones against the King Khalid airbase in Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi ArabiaA Khamis Mushait resident told AFP he heard intense blasts which left fires burning for a long timeHonestly we couldnt sleep at allThe Riyadhled coalition confirmed Tuesday there had been missile and drone attacks the previous day on Khamis Mushait Abha and Taif reporting 13 woundedRiyadh responded with more than 50 strikes as it had the day before according to the HouthisThe coalition said it would deal with the attacks firmly to protect the sovereignty of the Kingdom and would take all necessary operational measures to deter this hostile and extremist approachHazem alAssad from the Houthis politburo said the Yemeni response will continue and escalate as long as they Saudi Arabia persist in their aggression against our peopleIn the early hours of Tuesday Saudi civil defence issued airraid alerts in six regions before lifting themThe renewed fighting in Yemen comes as the wider regional war remains at a stalemate But US President Donald Trump on Monday said he was open to holding talks with IranThe failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal quickly and badly I will determine whether or not the USA will choose to engage The concept of which we are open to Trump said on his Truth Social networkIrans top security chief Mohsen Rezaei said on X that there will be no negotiations until Irans conditions are met That is all there is to itWider regional warA proposed meeting between Gulf states and Iran over the future of Hormuz was postponed on Monday with Tehran accusing Riyadh of using Yemen as a pretext to delay the talksTehran has long supported the Houthis a member of its antiIsrael axis of resistance including with weapons and technology but analysts dispute the extent to which Iran is behind the renewed fightingIran does not interfere in Yemeni affairs foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters on Monday saying the Houthis are entirely independent actors who make their decisions based on their own interestsSaudi Arabias de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was expected to hold talks with Egypts President Abdel Fattah alSisi on Tuesday Cairo announcedUS media reported last week Trump had rejected a personal request from the Saudi crown prince to intervene in the warForced to fleeYemeni government forces on Sunday said they had recaptured positions in the southwestern province of Taiz from Houthi fighters and carried out airstrikes telling the official Saba news agency they killed at least 10 gunmenThe Saudi crown prince received US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday to discuss the latest developments in the region according to Saudi news agency SPAThe admiral travelled to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for urgent coordination meetings according to US news site AxiosThe Houthis seized Yemens capital Sanaa in 2014 at the outset of the civil war driving the government to Aden in the southThe following year Saudi Arabia led a coalition to intervene on the side of the government launching wave after wave of airstrikes as the conflict escalated into one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the worldThe UNs migration agency said Monday the renewed fighting in the Arab worlds poorest country had forced 93864 people to flee their homesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever