Yemen Strikes Kill Two Civilians and Wound 14 in Marib as Houthis Target Camps

Yemen strikes on displacement camps, residential neighborhoods and military targets in Marib killed at least two civilians and wounded 14 on Friday, according to local authorities cited by state news agency SABA. [1] The Houthis launched ballistic missiles and drones at these sites while claiming responsibility for the strikes. [1]

Houthi Missile and Drone Strikes on Marib

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis launched ballistic missiles and drones at displacement camps and residential neighborhoods in the city of Marib on Friday, killing two people and wounding 14, state news agency SABA reported, citing local authorities. [1] The Houthis said on Friday they had targeted Saudi-backed forces, depots, vehicles and military equipment at Yemen's Sahn al-Jinn camp in Marib with missiles and drones. [1] A Yemeni military source stated that the attacks in Marib province killed eight members of government forces and wounded another 12. [4] The Ministry of Health had earlier announced that the Houthis shelled residential neighborhoods and refugee camps in Marib city, killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others. [4] Reuters could not independently verify the claims by either side. [1]

Prior Attacks and Government Troop Losses

The attacks came a day after at least 30 Yemeni government troops were killed in strikes on military camps in Marib and Hadramawt provinces, according to government sources. [1] The Houthis also claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks, saying they struck Saudi military deployments in the two provinces after detecting what they described as a large Saudi military buildup ahead of an escalation against areas under their control. [1] Medics had initially put the death toll at 38 and spoken of 29 wounded. [2] The Houthis themselves stated they had killed or wounded "hundreds" of fighters allied with Saudi Arabia. [2] They added that they had destroyed and burned several troop and weapons depots. [2] The militia attacked targets in the Yemeni provinces of Marib and Hadramawt with rockets and drones, according to government circles. [2] A rocket hit soldiers during their morning roll call in the Al-Ruwaik area of Marib province. [2]

UN Security Council meets to condemn Houthi missile attacks and unauthorized flights over Yemen. — Source: anadolu

Yemeni Government and Army Response

Yemen's army said early on Saturday it had responded against Houthi forces on several fronts along the lines of contact. [1] The army did not give details of the operations or say when they took place, but said it would respond to any further targeting of its units with what it called necessary military measures. [1] The armed forces would react to this "aggression at the appropriate time and place," declared the defense ministry of the internationally recognized government. [2] Shortly afterward Saudi Arabia reported attacks by the Houthi militia in which eleven civilians were injured according to military information. [2] Among them was a four-year-old child, according to a statement distributed on Friday by the official news agency. [2] The Houthi attacks occurred late Thursday evening in the Najran region bordering Yemen. [2]

UN and International Warnings

UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg said on Friday that the latest attacks in Marib and Hadramawt, together with renewed attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, had left Yemen at its greatest risk of renewed large-scale conflict since the UN-brokered truce in April 2022. [1] He urged all sides to exercise maximum restraint and engage in UN-led negotiations, warning that the violence risked drawing Yemen deeper into a wider regional confrontation. [1] The UN Security Council also expressed concern on Friday at the heightened tensions in Yemen, saying recent actions threatened regional security and navigational rights and freedoms, risked further escalation and undermined efforts to secure peace. [1] It urged the Houthis to refrain from escalation and encouraged the "use of existing channels of dialogue" to reduce tensions. [1] The UN Security Council condemns Houthi missile attacks and reaffirms Yemen's sovereignty while warning against actions that could undermine efforts to secure peace. [3]

Houthi missile and drone strikes hit displacement camps and residential areas in Marib, Yemen. — Source: gdelt

Context of the 2022 Truce and Recent Escalation

The 2022 truce had halted offensive military operations inside Yemen and across its borders and led to a sharp reduction in fighting. [1] The truce was twice extended before formally expiring in October that year, but large-scale hostilities did not immediately resume, and Yemen entered a period of relative calm. [1] The Houthis declared a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month in response to what they described as a Saudi siege of Yemen, an allegation Riyadh denies. [1] In the past month tensions between the conflict parties had increased as the Houthis drew Yemen into the regional Iran war and effectively terminated the 2022 ceasefire agreement with the Saudi-backed government. [2] The pro-Iranian militia recently announced a blockade of Saudi ports on the Red Sea and reported attacks on oil tankers and oil infrastructure of the kingdom. [2] Saudi Arabia for its part attacked targets in Houthi-controlled areas. [2]

Broader Regional Implications

With the US-Israeli war on Iran expanding to much of the region, a senior Saudi official said on Thursday that Riyadh expected imminent coordinated attacks from Yemen's Houthis as well as Iraqi militias under the supervision of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. [1] Iran and its allies in Yemen and Iraq have not responded to the Saudi claim. [1] The Yemen conflict has been regarded as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia for more than a decade. [2] Extensive areas in the north of the country and the capital Sanaa are controlled by the Islamist Houthi militia, while the south is controlled by a fragmented government alliance. [2] Since 2015 a Saudi-led military coalition has supported the government in the fight against the Houthis. [2] Since a UN-mediated ceasefire in 2022 the fighting had largely come to a standstill. [2] There is concern that the conflict in Yemen could flare up again. [2] The Houthis have recently also attacked several Saudi ships or forced them to change course. [2]

What to watch next: The UN Special Envoy warned that the latest attacks together with renewed Red Sea shipping strikes place Yemen at its greatest risk of renewed large-scale conflict since the 2022 truce, while the UN Security Council urged the Houthis to refrain from escalation and use existing dialogue channels.