Escalation Increases, Houthi Attack Causes Seven Saudi Citizens in Najran to Be Injured

JAKARTA - A series of attacks launched by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in the last 24 hours is reported to have killed and injured dozens of people. This is a major escalation in the region divided between parties supported by Tehran and Washington.

As one of Tehran's strongest allies, the Houthis group began to get involved in the Middle East conflict in March by firing missiles towards Israel.

Now, the group is boldly engaging in a tit-for-tat action with the internationally recognized government of Yemen, as well as launching direct attacks against the old enemy supported by the United States, namely Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, August 6, the rebel group claimed to have carried out a "large-scale" military operation targeting Saudi forces using ballistic missiles and drones in several parts of the country.

The Houthis did not provide evidence for the claim, but Reuters previously reported that as many as 30 Yemeni government soldiers were killed in a Houthi attack on military camps in Marib and Hadhramawt provinces.

On Friday, August 7, early in the morning, the Saudi-led military coalition supporting the Yemeni government stated that 11 civilians were injured in a Houthi attack on the southern Saudi border region, Najran.

Seven of them are Saudi nationals, including a woman and a 4-year-old child who suffered second-degree burns.

The internationally recognized government of Yemen said the Houthis were targeting the city of Marib - an important city in central Yemen controlled by the government - with missiles and drones.

These attacks raise the risk of a full-scale resumption of civil war.

The previous war, which began in 2014, left Yemen facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.