Houthis claim drone attack on Saudi base as Yemen fighting intensifies

The Houthis announced Sunday that they had struck a military installation in southern Saudi Arabia with drones and missiles, targeting what their military spokesperson Yahya Saree described as weapons storage facilities and command centers directing operations against Yemen. The attack on the Sharurah base came as fighting between the Iran-backed militant group and Yemen's government forces—backed by Saudi Arabia—intensified dramatically, sending civilians fleeing in numbers not seen since the conflict reignited in July after a four-year lull.

The escalation has been swift and consequential. On Saturday, Yemeni government forces claimed strikes against Houthi positions in the Red Sea port city of Mocha and elsewhere in the southwestern region, with the military announcing three airstrikes in the Taiz area. The Houthis countered that Saudi aircraft had conducted 129 strikes against their-controlled territory over the preceding two days. A projectile fired by the Houthis landed near the Saudi border Saturday night, injuring two people and damaging a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles, according to Saudi civil defence officials.

What makes this moment strategically significant is what the Houthis have just accomplished on the ground. Over the past week, they completed their seizure of Yemen's entire Red Sea coastline and captured several strategic islands, giving them effective control of the Bab al-Mandab strait—the narrow waterway at the southern entrance to the Red Sea that has become critical to global shipping and Saudi oil exports. With Iran having largely blocked the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Middle East conflict, this chokepoint has grown in importance. The Houthis have now declared their own maritime blockade of Saudi ports, a move that carries real economic weight.

The human toll is mounting rapidly. More than 500 people have been killed since fighting resumed in July, according to figures from both sides. The displacement is accelerating: the UN's International Organization for Migration reported Saturday that 76,000 people had fled their homes since July—a figure that had quadrupled in just one week. The fall of Mocha on Thursday alone sent many residents toward Aden, where Yemen's internationally recognized government operates. About 1,400 additional people have crossed into Djibouti, according to that country's minister of economy and finance.

The diplomatic dimension adds another layer of uncertainty. According to reporting by Axios, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called Donald Trump twice last week requesting American airstrikes against the Houthis—a request Trump declined. When asked about the calls Saturday, Trump acknowledged speaking with the Saudi leader but noted that the Houthis had also contacted him, saying they did not want conflict with the United States. He offered no clarity on whether Washington would intervene, telling reporters only that "everything's gonna work out fine and dandy" in the region.

This conflict has deep roots. Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Houthis captured the capital, Sana'a. Saudi Arabia entered the war in 2015 supporting the government, which relocated to Aden. A ceasefire in 2022 had quieted the fighting for nearly four years, but the conflict roared back to life in July. The United States conducted a seven-week bombing campaign against the Houthis in 2025 in response to their attacks on Red Sea shipping in support of Hamas during the Gaza war, which ended in a negotiated ceasefire. The Houthis, however, continued launching missiles and drones at Israel and have now resumed attacks on commercial vessels after declaring their blockade of Saudi Arabia.

In Sana'a, Houthi supporters marked a different kind of victory: the release of 210 prisoners who had been held in areas the group had just captured, some of whom had spent up to eight years in detention. The broader picture, though, is one of escalating military action, strategic territorial gains by the Houthis, and a civilian population caught between forces with no clear off-ramp in sight. The question now is whether Trump's administration will shift course from its rejection of Saudi requests for intervention, and whether the Houthis' control of this vital shipping corridor will hold.