Houthis report 156 Saudi strikes in Yemen, say government advance repelled

• The Houthis said Saudi forces carried out 156 air and missile strikes across Sanaa and five provinces

• The group claimed it repelled a government advance in eastern Al-Jawf and attacked troop positions

• The Saudi-led coalition said it destroyed a launch platform being prepared for an attack on Saudi Arabia

Yemen’s Houthis said Saudi forces carried out 156 air and missile strikes across the capital Sanaa and five provinces, while claiming to have pushed back an advance by government troops near the Saudi border.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement on X on Wednesday that the strikes hit Sanaa, Taiz, Saada, Al-Jawf, Marib and Amran. He claimed civilian locations were among the targets but did not identify them or provide details of casualties.

Sarea said the latest attacks took the group’s tally of Saudi air and missile strikes since the current escalation began to 1,798. Saudi Arabia did not immediately respond to the statement.

The spokesman also claimed Houthi fighters had repelled an attempt by government forces to advance towards their positions in eastern Al-Jawf, Xinhua reported.

He said the group used ballistic missiles and drones against troop concentrations in the province, claiming dozens of soldiers were killed or wounded and several military vehicles destroyed. The supplied reports offered no independent confirmation of those claims.

Separately, the Saudi-led coalition said on Wednesday that it had destroyed a ballistic missile launch platform in Sanaa. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the platform had previously been used to attack Riyadh and was being prepared for another imminent strike against Saudi Arabia.

The exchanges come as fighting intensifies between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, including around the strategically important Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Saudi forces have increased air operations, while the Houthis have stepped up missile and drone attacks inside Saudi Arabia.

Yemen’s conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis took control of Sanaa and large parts of the north. A Saudi-led coalition intervened the following year to support the internationally recognised government, which is now based in Aden.

With IANS inputs