Saudi Coalition Launches 54 Airstrikes Across Six Yemeni Provinces in 12 Hours as Civilian Casualties Continue to Climb

The Saudi-led coalition launched massive airstrikes against Yemen on the 10th, with the scale of fighting and civilian casualties rising in tandem, as a regional defense pact threatens to push the conflict further afield. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the coalition carried out 54 airstrikes across six Yemeni provinces within 12 hours, covering Jawf, Marib, Taiz, Hodeidah, Saada and Bayda provinces. Saree said the airstrike aircraft took off from King Khalid Air Base at Khamis Mushait and King Fahd Air Base at Taif inside Saudi territory, and warned that these airstrikes 'will not go unanswered and unpunished, by the will and power of God.'

Civilians are bearing the brunt. The Yemeni government-operated Saba news agency reported that Houthi shelling in Marib province in the center of the country killed at least three children, including an infant, with six others wounded. This is the second such attack within 48 hours; a previous strike had killed two children and wounded 15. The Houthis claimed that the coalition's airstrike on a prison in the northern Jawf province on the 9th killed at least 32 people and wounded 7; the group's controlled news outlets said on the 10th that the coalition had also carried out 40 airstrikes that day in Taiz, Hodeidah, Jawf and Marib provinces. The casualty figures released by the Saudi coalition and the Houthis both come from parties to the conflict and cannot be independently verified at this time.

World Health Organization data shows that successive days of conflict have caused more than a thousand casualties and displaced tens of thousands of people. Yemen has been mired in civil war since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, with the Saudi coalition intervening militarily in 2015. According to Al Jazeera reporting, the war is estimated to have killed approximately 150,000 people. A UN-brokered ceasefire in 2022 had paused large-scale fighting, but hostilities resumed in July after government forces struck the Houthi-controlled Sanaa airport.

The fighting is approaching the Bab al-Mandab strait, a vital global shipping artery. The Houthis launched a large-scale offensive in Hodeidah and Taiz provinces last week, targeting the key waterway for Saudi oil exports. According to Reuters citing Yemeni military sources, the Houthis have seized the strategic Red Sea port city of Mocha, moving closer to the Bab al-Mandab strait. This claim has not been independently confirmed, and conflicting statements from the Yemeni government forces and the Houthis about battlefield advances and supply line conditions likewise cannot be verified.

The conflict has also spilled over into Saudi territory. Coalition spokesman Brigadier General Maliki said on the 10th that the Houthis had 'continuously' targeted locations inside Saudi Arabia, including Khamis Mushait, Abha and Jizan, with ballistic missiles and drones. Saudi officials said the previous day that recent Houthi attacks had wounded at least 73 people inside Saudi territory. Saudi civil defense authorities issued multiple alerts for Khamis Mushait and Abha but reported no related casualties.

Regional military deployments have correspondingly tightened. Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif warned this week that the Joint Defense Agreement signed in Mecca last month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan could be activated if the fighting expands. He told local media: 'If Saudi Arabia is subjected to unprovoked aggression, or if the situation in Yemen spreads to Saudi Arabia, the Mecca pact will unquestionably come into effect.' Iran's foreign ministry, responding to a previous statement by Arab League foreign ministers, reiterated that it 'totally rejects accusations of Iranian interference in Yemeni affairs' and expressed support for intra-Yemeni dialogue within the framework of the UN roadmap.