Houthi strikes kill dozens in Yemen, wounds 11 in Saudi

SANAA, Yemen

Houthi supporters chant slogans during a rally against the Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have killed over 60 government troops in missile and drone attacks, military sources said on Aug. 7, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years.

The attacks come as Yemen is increasingly drawn into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, with the rebels stepping up attacks against both government forces and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and supporter of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels attacked government positions with ballistic missiles and drones in response to an alleged military buildup backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The attacks killed at least 58 government troops and injured dozens on Aug. 6, according to the military source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Medical sources had earlier spoken of 38 dead.

A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Aug. 6 attacks on troop camps were the worst in Yemen since 2022.

Another drone strike on Yemen’s Marib province killed three members of government forces on Aug. 7, a Yemeni source said, as the rebels escalate strikes on the key oil-rich province a day after their deadliest attack in years.

Yemen’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that its armed forces would respond to the attacks “at the appropriate place and time.”

The escalation spilled across the border on Aug. 6, with Saudi officials saying Houthi attacks wounded 11 civilians in the southern Najran region.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the wounded included seven Saudis, a Yemeni, two Egyptians and a Pakistani, according to a statement carried in the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition backing Yemen’s government against the Houthis since 2015.

Al-Malki accused the rebels of carrying out “indiscriminate shelling against civilian objects” and said coalition forces would continue taking measures to protect civilians.

The rebels have ramped up the provocations against their Saudi foes since last month, adding to the regional chaos since the U.S.-Iran war erupted on Feb. 28.

One missile attack hit troops during their morning formation at the camp in Marib, “killing and wounding at least 45 personnel,” said a military source, who declined to be named for security reasons.

Saree named Al-Ruwaik, al-Thaniyah and al-Abr as being among the areas hit, warning the rebels were “prepared to confront any escalation.”

Yemen, which has been embroiled in more than a decade of war, became sucked into the Middle East war last month as the Tehran-backed Houthi rebels upended a 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed government.