Saudi military reports civilian injuries after Houthi attacks near Najran border

More than ten civilians were injured in Saudi Arabia's southern Najran province on Thursday after a series of attacks attributed to Yemen's Houthi movement, the Saudi military said. The casualties included a four-year-old child, seven Saudi nationals, one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani expatriate.

The attacks occurred hours after the Iran-aligned rebels announced strikes in central and eastern Yemen that killed at least 30 government troops and wounded about 50 others. A Houthi commander said the operations targeted Saudi-backed forces in the Marib and Hadramout provinces, claiming "hundreds" of enemy personnel were killed or injured.

"The Houthi militia carried out these attacks using indiscriminate shelling against civilian objects, which is a violation of Customary International Humanitarian Law through deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian objects," Saudi military spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a post on X.

Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree described the strikes as ballistic missile and drone attacks on camps, depots and military vehicles, saying they were a response to a buildup of Saudi-backed forces in eastern Yemen. He called for continued vigilance and retaliation against Saudi troop concentrations.

The United States mission to Yemen expressed condolences to families of Yemeni soldiers killed in the attacks and characterized the Houthi actions as terrorism against the Yemeni people. The incidents mark a renewed escalation in a conflict that has been largely static since a de-facto truce was declared in April 2022.