Houthis Attack Najran in Saudi Arabia
The Armed Forces of the Ansarullah group in Yemen announced on Thursday that they had carried out two military operations using drones targeting Saudi Arabian targets in Najran. The Houthi attacks were described as a response to Saudi Arabia’s violations of Yemeni airspace.
Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree stated that the operations targeted strategic Saudi locations at Najran Airport and Aramco facilities in Najran. He said both operations successfully achieved their objectives.
Saree stressed that his side would continue to protect Yemen’s sovereignty from all forms of violation and maintain the established strategy in confronting escalation by Saudi Arabia.
According to Saree, both operations were carried out in response to the entry of Saudi drones into the airspace of Saada Governorate, Yemen. The announcement came a day after the Houthi Armed Forces established three principles of military action in response to Saudi military escalation.
The first principle is ‘blockade for blockade’, the second is targeting concentrations of Saudi military force wherever they are located, and the third is protecting Yemen’s sovereignty and confronting all forms of violation.
The Houthi Armed Forces stated that this new approach aims to provide a direct response to Saudi actions, linking any further escalation against Yemen with commensurate military retaliation.
The forces also stated that they had implemented what they called a strict maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia, while asserting that Riyadh was no longer able to get a single ship through the area.
The latest operation took place amid rising tensions between Yemen and Saudi Arabia following the collapse of the 2022 ceasefire. In July, the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that the ceasefire with Saudi Arabia had completely collapsed due to Saudi aggression against Sanaa Airport.
Subsequently, the Houthi group announced a maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia under the principle of ‘blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation’. The Yemeni Armed Forces stated that the move was taken following broad public support voiced through mass demonstrations on Friday in Sanaa and several other Yemeni provinces.
Thus, the latest attack is part of a broader military and political message from Sanaa: continued violations of Yemeni territory and airspace will be met with retaliatory operations targeting Saudi military and strategic targets.