Yemen carries out 20 strikes on Houthi targets in Taiz as Saudi escalation deepens

Yemen's internationally recognised government said on Friday that its warplanes had carried out 20 strikes over the past three hours targeting Houthi movements, personnel, vehicles and military equipment in the southwestern province of Taiz.

The strikes come amid the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-aligned Houthis since a United Nations-brokered truce largely halted cross-border attacks in 2022. Analysts warn that an unchallenged Houthi hold over Taiz would give the group full control of the country's north, a tighter grip on the Red Sea coast and easier access to the south and the port city of Aden, where the government is seated.

The renewed fighting has already displaced tens of thousands of people, and it carries implications well beyond Yemen's borders — for Red Sea shipping lanes and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, one of the world's busiest maritime chokepoints.

The escalation sharpened this week after Saudi Arabia said on Thursday that the Houthis had attacked a power distribution station in Medina that supplies electricity to the Prophet's Mosque. A Houthi military source, quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, denied the claim, saying it was intended to cover up what he described as Riyadh's failure to substantiate an earlier accusation that the Houthis had targeted the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

Saudi Arabia said two weeks ago that it had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it entered restricted airspace over the city. The Houthis denied targeting Mecca or any other Islamic holy site.

Fighting was reported to be widespread across Taiz, and authorities ordered the closure of all roads leading into the province, designating them military operational areas. Six military sources told Reuters that around 19 roads were affected, including the main route running from southern Sanaa to Taiz.