Sawt Falasteen - Houthi missile attacks kill 58 Saudi-backed Yemeni govt forces

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

The evolving regional situation has prompted Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan to seek closer security ties, with the three Muslim-majority nations set to sign a joint defence agreement in Jeddah on Friday, according to Saudi sources with knowledge of the matter.

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, 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 Thursday's attacks on troop camps were the worst in Yemen since 2022.

Yemen's defence 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 Thursday, 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.

- Sucked into war -

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

The military official told AFP that a camp in the al-Ruwaik area of Marib province, in central Yemen, had been attacked, as well as in the Al-Abr and Al-Wadiah areas of Hadramawt, near the border with Saudi Arabia.

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".

- Tit-for-tat -

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.

The rebels welcomed an Iranian plane directly in the capital Sanaa, triggering tit-for-tat attacks. They later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi ports and began hitting its tankers.

Last month, the Houthis killed 16 troops in an attack on government-aligned forces south of the port city of Hodeidah, two medical officials told AFP.

The Houthis have been at war with the government since 2014 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and triggered a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The rebels control Yemen's capital Sanaa and much of the populous north, while the government holds much of the south.

The fighting had largely been frozen since a UN-negotiated truce in 2022 that had held despite expiring.

N.Awad--SF-PST