Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis claim Saudi strikes; attack on Israeli vessel in Gulf of Oman

Iran-backed rebel faction Houthi on Saturday claimed the responsibility for the attack against Yemeni government forces in the northern stronghold of Marib and threatened more attacks, as tensions between the Saudi-led military coalition and Iran-backed forces escalated.

Intensifying the operation against the Kingdom in retaliation to the air raids conducted by the Saudi-led coalition troops in the north of Yemen, Iran-allied Houthis launched a ballistic missile and at least three booby-trapped drones, targeting the province of Jizan. One other drone attacked was aimed at the southwestern city as loud explosions resonated in the Saudi capital, followed by interception of a missile by Yemeni armed forces minutes later, according to the state television footage that emerged from the scene. 

"A ballistic missile fired by our forces hit King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait city. It hit the target accurately," said Yahya Sarea," Yahya Sarea, spokesperson of the Houthi military, in a statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah television. 

Ahead of the deadly explosions that rocked Marib, Iran's allied forces attacked an Israeli vessel in the strategic Gulf of Oman flaring the middle east conflict, as Iran pushed for ‘total war’ in the region via proxies and allied group support. Saudi’s state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV broadcast footage showed the kingdom’s civilians shrieking as loud explosions shuddered across the sky which appears to be emanating from US Patriot missile batteries intercepting the ballistic missile launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Shortly afterwards, bomb-laden drones were launched in a series of air assaults towards Riyadh as the Houthi rebel faction intensified the operation. Houthi spokesman Yahya al-Saree told rebels' Al-Masirah TV channel that the rebellion group deployed a ballistic missile and at least 15 drones to target Saudi-led coalition bases in the capital of Riyadh. He said in a live televised address, that the offensive will continue for as long as the aggression and siege on Yemen continued. 

[US Air Force, a soldier with the U.S. Air Force's 378th Air Expeditionary Wing trains members of the Royal Saudi Air Force Police Wing how to use equipment to counter-drone attacks at Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh. Credit: AP]

Read: Heavy Clashes Rage In Central Yemen; Dozens Killed

Read: UN Welcomes US Revocation Of Yemen's Houthis As Terrorists

6 bomb-laden drones launched

In a statement to state’s press, spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, Col. Turki al-Maliki said that the forces intercepted at least 6 bomb-laden drones in the southern cities of Khamis Mushait and a vessel departed for Dammam was forced to turn around after deadly explosions were heard in the Gulf of Oman. Israel’s Channel 13 later aired the visuals, confirming that the Iranian Navy fired missiles at the MV Helios Ray. The incident followed pro-Iran Shi’ militias Hashd al-Sha’abi’s condemnation of the US airstrikes in Syria against Iran-backed targets. “Houthis were trying in a systematic and deliberate way to target civilians,” Col. Maliki said in a televised address. This comes just days after Huthis struck a passenger plane at Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Abha airport with a bomb-laden drone that set the flight ablaze. 

[US airstrike map chart in Syria against Iran-backed rebel factions. Credit: AP]

Read: Red Cross Concerned Over Rebel Offensive In Central Yemen

Read: UN Says No Progress In Yemen Talks Over Prisoner Swap

(Image Credit: Twitter/@marhaba_saudi)