Saudi Arabia has intercepted ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis in Yemen after issuing warnings for several regions including Mecca, as France vowed to send “military means” to help shield the key Saudi oil terminal of Yanbu.
The attacks were reported as fighting raged in Yemen between the Houthis and Riyadh-backed government forces, killing dozens of people on both sides, according to a tally from seven sources who spoke to the AFP news agency.
The missiles were the latest in a series of escalating Houthi attacks since July, when renewed hostilities shattered a years-long truce and embroiled Yemen in the wider Middle East war.
Since then, the Houthis have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, hitting its tankers and territory and seizing swathes of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, which is vital for Saudi oil exports.
Their gains cement the hold of Iran and its allies on the two waterways that the wider Gulf, including top crude exporter Saudi Arabia, relies on to ship out its oil and other fuel products.
The Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s government since 2015 against the Houthis said six ballistic missiles had been intercepted, thwarting attacks on Taif and Yanbu.
“Escalations and violations by the terrorist Houthi militia will be dealt with firmly,” said coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki on X.
Earlier, the Saudi Civil Defence had issued a brief series of alerts including one for Mecca, home to Islam’s holiest sites, with separate warnings for the Red Sea governorate of Yanbu as well as the Taif, Jeddah and Tabuk regions.
The alerts were lifted a few minutes later. In recent weeks, alerts have often preceded attacks by the Houthis.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian denied that Tehran was directing Houthi battle plans.
“The Houthis are responsible for their own actions. They don’t take directions from us as those who are resisting in the region, based on the situations that have been imposed on them,” Pezeshkian told Fox News, according to the broadcaster’s translation of his remarks.
Pledge of support from France
With pressure mounting on Saudi Arabia, French President Emmanuel Macron said France planned to “send military assets, meaning soldiers, radars and defence systems to protect” Yanbu.
“Not to engage in any conflicts but to protect this site,” Macron said in an interview with the television channels TF1 and France 2.
The infrastructure in and around Yanbu forms a key node in Saudi Arabia’s vast network of energy installations.
Yanbu serves as the kingdom’s primary crude export terminal on the Red Sea and is connected to its oil-producing regions near the Gulf coast by the East-West pipeline, also known as Petroline.
Yanbu is also home to major oil storage and refining facilities, while its location on the Red Sea provides Saudi Arabia with an alternative route for sending crude and petroleum products towards European markets.
Last week, Riyadh accused the Houthis of targeting Mecca for the first time since 2017 with a drone that was downed, an accusation the group denied.
A few days later, the group attacked the Saudi capital Riyadh, the first in years, marking a new escalation in the conflict.
As the Houthi attacks targeted Saudi Arabia on Thursday, battles raged on the ground in Yemen.
At least 150 Houthi fighters and government forces members have been killed in the past 24 hours, sources from both sides told AFP, including in clashes over hilltops overlooking the Bab al-Mandab strait at the mouth of the Red Sea.
At least 98 soldiers and government forces members were killed, according to an AFP tally compiled from five military sources.
Most were killed in Houthi ballistic missile and drone attacks, with dozens of Yemeni troops killed.
The Houthis later claimed launching a complex barrage involving ballistic missiles and drones to target command centres and weapons depots in southern Saudi Arabia, with the group saying Yemeni and Sudanese fighters were killed and injured in the attack along with Saudi personnel.
The group also claimed late on Thursday to have launched attacks across the border that targeted Aramco infrastructure in Yanbu and an unnamed site in Riyadh.
At least 52 Houthi fighters were killed in other clashes, two sources from the group said.
Many on both sides were also killed in clashes in the Kahboub Mountains and in areas between the Lahj and Taiz regions, as the Houthis seek to dominate the highlands overlooking Bab al-Mandab to protect newly seized territory.