Houthis Escalate Conflict with Saudi Arabia Amid Plans to Seize Strategic Waterway

Yemen's Houthi rebels have escalated their conflict with Saudi Arabia and its allies by launching drone attacks on a sensitive site at Najran Airport and an Aramco facility in the same region, according to Yahya Saree, military spokesman for the Houthis. The attacks come amid widening hostilities between the two sides, which have been embroiled in over a decade of civil conflict. In July, Yemen became the latest country to be drawn into the Middle East war after the Houthis ended a truce with the Saudi-backed government.

The Houthi rebels have also been planning to seize land along the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which would allow them to further threaten the vital shipping artery. A Yemeni minister told AFP that the rebels were plotting this move, and three Houthi military sources, as well as a spokesman for the Yemeni government forces battling them near the waterway, corroborated this information.

The conflict escalated last month when the Houthis welcomed an Iranian plane in Yemen's capital Sanaa, prompting a spate of tit-for-tat attacks. The rebels have since announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and begun hitting its ships, airports, and oil facilities.