Saudi strikes Houthi sites in Yemen as conflict flares
The Iran-backed militants have declared a maritime blockade of the kingdom and attacked its ships
Saudi Arabia struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida on Friday with rebel media reporting two injured after the Iran-backed group announced a maritime blockade of the kingdom and hit its ships.
Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded fire recently for the first time in years, threatening a 2022 truce that has held despite expiring.
The Saudi-led coalition said it hit Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening commercial vessels in response to attacks on Red Sea shipping.
A Yemeni security source said a naval base in Hodeida and a military camp on Kamaran island were among the targets.
The flare-up followed an attack on a Saudi ship, as the rebels’ maritime blockade threatened the top oil exporter’s ability to supply the world following Iran’s parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – Riyadh’s only other maritime route.
“The terrorist Houthi military … targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea,” Turki al-Maliki, the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman, said on social media.