Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed a missile attack on the southern Saudi Arabian city of Jizan, after vowing retaliation against the kingdom for attacks this week.<\/p>\n
It came after Saudi Arabia, a US ally, struck Houthi military targets yesterday, following the Yemeni group announcing a maritime blockade of the top oil producer and hitting its ships in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n
The rebels accused Saudi Arabia of a “dangerous escalation” and said its actions “will not go unanswered”.<\/p>\n
The Houthis’ Ansarollah media said on Telegram that fires had broken out in Jizan following a “Yemeni missile attack”.<\/p>\n
Riyadh’s civil defence agency had issued brief warnings to residents in Jizan and Yanbu for “potential danger”, only to lift the warnings minutes later.<\/p>\n
The flare-up marks a new front of the Middle East war that has engulfed the region following US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February, and comes on top of Iran’s parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Riyadh’s only other maritime route.<\/p>\n