• Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, near Yanbu port in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden.

Houthi Red Sea attacks could impact global oil markets

Yemen’s Houthi group has claimed attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, near Yanbu port in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, following last month’s announced naval blockade on Saudi shipping.

The Bab al-Mandeb strait, just 29km (18 miles) wide at its narrowest point, carries roughly 66 percent of Saudi oil cargo and accounts for 10-12 percent of global trade. Renewed threats could force tankers onto longer alternative routes, adding weeks to journeys and driving up freight and fuel costs worldwide.

Traffic in Bab al-Mandeb falls

In Bab al-Mandeb, only one commodity vessel, a Bahamas-flagged dry bulk carrier, crossed the strait on Wednesday, Kpler data showed, down from 20 the previous day. The Iran-aligned Houthis imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20, in response to what they described as a Saudi siege on Yemen, which Riyadh has denied.

An average of 41 ships crossed the chokepoint daily in the week before the declaration of the blockade.

Several casualties reported in suspected Houthi missile attack on Yemen Emergency Forces camps

The Yemeni Emergency Forces of the internationally recognized government have said that there have been material and human losses following attacks on its camps.

Several casualties have been reported after a suspected Houthi rocket and drone attack targeted bases hosting the forces in Marib and Hadramout.

Despite a relative lull since April 2022, intermittent clashes have continued between government forces and the Houthis, who have controlled the capital Sanaa and other parts of Yemen since September 2014.

Fighting has intensified across several front lines since early July, leaving dozens of fighters dead and wounded on both sides.

Yemeni government forces shoot down Houthi drone over Marib

Forces of Yemen’s internationally-recognised government have shot down a drone belonging to the Houthi group over the city of Marib, the country’s state news agency says.

The Houthis’ targeting of Marib “embodies their escalatory approach and their insistence on continuing their terrorist acts,” the official SABA news agency quoted a military source as saying.

“The air defences engaged the drone as soon as it entered the city’s airspace and successfully shot it down,” the source added.

The Houthis, who also control a news agency with the same name, did not immediately comment on the report.

The incident comes amid intermittent fighting on several front lines across Yemen since early July, resulting in dozens of casualties on both sides.

Yemen has seen a relative lull in fighting since April 2022. The war began in 2014 between government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition and the Iran-backed Houthi group, which has controlled the capital, Sanaa, and other parts of the country since then.

Dozens killed in suspected Houthi missile attack on Yemen Emergency Forces camps

Dozens of people have been killed, and others wounded, in a suspected Houthi rocket and drone attack that targeted camps in the Marib and Hadramout governorates, local media report.

The Yemeni Emergency Forces of the internationally recognised government earlier said there were material and human losses following the attacks on its camps.

Houthis announce ‘wide and qualitative military operation’ in Yemen

A Houthi spokesperson has written on X that the group will soon reveal more details of what he called a “wide and qualitative military operation” but did not elaborate.

Earlier in the day, the Houthis reportedly used ballistic missiles and explosive-laden drones in an assault on a camp used by the Emergency Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government in Al-Thaniyah in Marib governorate, the online newspaper Al-Masdar reported.

The attacks continued from the morning until midday, targeting barracks and ammunition depots inside the camp, the newspaper said.

Houthi attacks signal ‘expansion of operations’

We know this was a one-of-a-kind attack by the Houthis that targeted the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

In 2015, the government established what is known as the Yemeni Emergency Forces after brief clashes with the southern separatists.

The Yemeni government managed to take over the areas controlled by the STC, the Southern Transitional Council, and thereby established the Emergency Forces, which is made up of six divisions and nearly 30,000 fighters.

It seems from these reports that we’re getting now that a military base was targeted, under the control of the internationally recognized Yemeni government.

What this means is that the Houthis are expanding their operations, not only to target Saudi ships in the Red Sea, but also to target Saudi Arabia’s allies on the ground.

Houthis confirm attacks on several camps

The Iran-backed Houthis have confirmed targeting multiple Yemeni Emergency Forces camps in the Marib and Hadramout governorates.

In a statement on X, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group carried out attacks “using a large number of ballistic missiles and drones” in the Ruwaik, Al-Abr, and Al Thaniyah areas, as well as other Yemeni Emergency Forces camps.

The attack resulted in the “destruction and burning of a large number” of camps, troop concentrations, depots, and weapons in eastern Yemen, and the destruction of military vehicles.

There was no immediate response from the Yemeni Emergency Forces, which earlier said there were material and human losses.

Local media reports dozens of people have been killed.

Houthis warn fighters to leave Emergency Forces camps

A Houthi military spokesman has warned fighters in camps controlled by the Emergency Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government to flee.

“We advise those misled and deceived among our people to leave the Saudi enemy camps and return to their homes before it is too late,” Yahya Saree said in a statement on X. “We assure our dear Yemeni people in all governorates that the armed forces are fully prepared to confront any escalation.”

Yemeni official accuses Houthis of ‘regional aggression and blackmail’

In a post on X, Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi, deputy chairman of the Yemeni Consultation and Reconciliation Authority, said Houthis have resorted to targeting Yemen’s government positions due to intensifying pressure on the group.

“This is their true project: perpetuating the war and preventing the restoration of the state,” he said.

Al-Mekhlafi said the only way to prevent Houthis from launching more attacks in Yemen and across the region is “ending the militia’s coup, restoring state institutions in the capital Sanaa”.

On July 13, 2026, the Saudi-backed government tried to prevent the landing of a passenger plane by bombing the landing strip at Sana'a International Airport. There was an delegation on board that returned from Khamenei's funeral.

With the attack, the Saudi-backed government ignited renewed tensions with the Ansarullah Houthis, as they reacted by accusing Saudi Arabia and blocking the Bab al-Mandeb for Saudi vessels.

That's how it all started.

Houthis leverage Iran conflict to boost regional power, says ex-U.S. envoy

Yemen’s Houthis are using the Iran war to gain more leverage in the region, says Joey Hood, former US Ambassador to Tunisia and former acting director of the Office of Iranian Affairs at the US State Department.

“For the past few years, [Houthis] have seen Iran, their main patron, on the back foot, and the Saudis had some smart diplomacy with them after years of crushing warfare. So they decided to take a bit of a pause, and during that time, they apparently restocked and replenished their weapons, not just on their own but also thanks to contributions from Tehran,” Hood said.

Iran believes it can gain the upper hand in the war, if it can take control of trade passing through both the Strait of Hormuz, he added.

“So, now you have a situation in which the Saudis are bypassing the Persian Gulf, that’s the Strait of Hormuz, in order to export a lot of their petroleum via the Red Sea. The Houthis and, of course, the Iranians with whom they share a partnership, even if they’re not remotely controlled, they saw that.”

The Houthi attack on Yemen’s Emergency Forces camps

• The Iran-backed Houthis targeted several camps run by the Emergency Forces of Yemen’s internationally-recognised government in Marib and Hadramout governorates, a spokesman has said.
• The group used “a large number of ballistic missiles and drones”, triggering fires and destroying camps, military positions, depots, weapons and vehicles in the Ruwaik, Al-Abr and Al Thaniyah areas.
• Local media have reported that dozens of people were killed, but the Emergency Forces have not confirmed a figure beyond saying there were human losses.
• Yemeni officials have railed against the attack, with Abdul Malik al-Mekhlafi, deputy chairman of the Yemeni Consultation and Reconciliation Authority, accusing the Houthis of “perpetuating the war”.
• The US embassy in Yemen also described Houthi attacks in Hadramout and Marib as “cowardly”.
• The Houthis also warned fighters in other Emergency Forces camps to flee.

Saudi-led coalition says 11 civilians wounded in Houthi attack on Najran

The Saudi-led military coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government has said that at least 11 civilians were wounded in a Houthis attack on the southern Saudi border region of Najran.

The wounded included seven Saudi nationals, among them a woman and a four-year-old child who suffered second-degree burns, as well as one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani national, the coalition’s spokesperson said in a statement.

Major-General Turki al-Maliki said the Houthi attack “constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and its customary rules regarding the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian objects”.

The Yemeni military has said that at least 17 soldiers and an officer were killed in Houthi ballistic missile and suicide-drone attacks.

Earlier, we mentioned that Iran-backed Houthis targeted several camps run by the Emergency Forces of Yemen’s internationally recognized government in the Marib and Hadramout governorates.

“The Joint Operations Command assures the Yemeni people that the Armed Forces, in all their formations, continue to perform their duties with full readiness and efficiency, and that this cowardly attack will not deter them from fulfilling their national mission but will only increase their resolve and determination to complete their sacred duty of restoring state institutions and imposing sovereignty over all national territory,” the Yemeni military said in a statement.