A makeshift camp for people displaced by clashes between Iran-aligned Houthi fighters and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces, in Taiz province, Yemen, on September 14, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday (September 14, 2026) that Saudi Arabia launched airstrikes across the west of the country after the Iran-backed group earlier announced it targeted military bases in the kingdom.
The group, fighting the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, last week seized control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which has become vital as the wider U.S.-Iran war chokes the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis said Riyadh targeted Yemen with 54 strikes over 24 hours, after the group fired dozens of drones and missiles at Saudi military facilities, prompting the Saudi civil defence to issue alerts in the southern cities of Khamis Mushait and Abha.
The civil defence later issued a brief alert for Najran in southwestern Saudi Arabia without elaborating on the cause for the warning.
A Khamis Mushait resident said he heard “intense blasts” which left fires burning for a “long time”. “Honestly, we couldn’t sleep at all.”
Houthi missile attacks in western Yemen killed eight troops from Yemeni government forces, two military sources with the Aden-based administration told AFP.
The Iran-backed group’s Al-Masirah TV channel said two civilians were killed in Saudi strikes that destroyed a bridge in Taiz province, which has seen some of Yemen’s fiercest clashes in recent days.
The renewed fighting in Yemen comes as the wider regional war remains at a stalemate. But U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he was open to holding talks with Iran.
“The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly. I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage — The concept of which we are open to,” Mr. Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Published – September 15, 2026 02:27 am IST
