Houthi Attacks on Saudi Oil Infrastructure Escalate Middle East Tensions

The Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched attacks on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, targeting an oil refinery and killing at least 11 people. The strikes came as a years-long truce in Yemen's civil war between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government appeared to collapse.

A medical source in Mokha reported that three civilians and eight military personnel had been killed in the Houthi attacks, with a further 32 individuals wounded, six of them civilians. The strikes were carried out using missiles and drones, according to the Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Saree.

The attack on the oil facility operated by Saudi Arabia's state-owned oil firm Aramco was launched in response to incursions by drones from Saudi Arabia into northwest Yemen, said Saree. The strikes also targeted pro-government forces and installations outside Mokha and sites on islands near the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The Houthi rebels control vast swathes of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa and areas on the border with Saudi Arabia's Red Sea provinces. The attacks come as Iran pressed its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a central flashpoint between Tehran and Washington amid efforts to end the Middle East war.