Yemen, Houthi attack on government forces: at least 38 dead

On Thursday, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels struck several positions of Yemeni government forces supported by Saudi Arabia with ballistic missiles and drones. According to two medical sources cited by the Agence France Presse news agency, the attack killed at least 38 government soldiers and wounded 29. The Yemeni Ministry of Defense confirmed that the targets hit were located in the eastern provinces of Marib and Hadramout, stating that the rebels targeted “several camps and units of the Armed Forces stationed in the provinces of Marib and Hadramout.”

The episode comes as the Yemeni conflict, which has been underway for years between the internationally recognized government and the Houthi movement that controls large areas of the country’s north, is turning, according to the gathered sources, into a new front of the broader war between the United States and Iran. The two outlets that reported the news — one American, drawing on coverage from France 24 and the Agence France Presse news agency, the other an international security digest citing a Yemeni news agency — agree on the main facts: the attack took place on Thursday, hit government positions in the east of the country and caused dozens of deaths among the ranks of the Saudi-Yemeni forces.

The motivation for the attack was provided by the Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, according to whom the missile and drone raids were a response to an alleged Saudi-backed military buildup in the region. The spokesman did not provide, in the details reported by the gathered sources, any figures regarding possible losses suffered by his own movement, nor elements allowing independent verification of the existence of the alleged Saudi buildup cited as the cause of the offensive.

The toll of 38 dead and 29 wounded comes from medical sources cited by the Agence France Presse news agency, which leaves room for uncertainty regarding the exact figure, as often happens in the first hours after attacks in areas of active conflict. The Yemeni Ministry of Defense, in its statement, limited itself to confirming the location of the attack without providing its own numerical toll.

Marib and Hadramout are two of the Yemeni provinces that remain under the control of government forces backed by Riyadh, in a conflict that pits the internationally recognized executive on one side against the Houthi movement, rooted in the north and supported by Tehran, on the other. The placement of this front within the broader framework of the war between the United States and Iran — as described by the gathered sources — signals a possible geographical expansion of regional tensions linked to the standoff between Washington and Tehran, beyond the already known theaters of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

There is no indication, in the materials gathered, of any broader claim of responsibility by Iran regarding this specific attack, nor details of a military or diplomatic response by Saudi Arabia in the following hours. What remains, for now, is the fact confirmed by both independent sources gathered: a Houthi attack with missiles and drones against Yemeni-Saudi government forces in the provinces of Marib and Hadramout, with a toll of at least 38 dead and 29 wounded among government soldiers.