Saudi strikes Houthi sites in Yemen as conflict flares

The Iran-backed militants have declared a maritime blockade of the kingdom and attacked its ships Saudi Arabia struck Houthi military targets in Hodeida on Friday with rebel media reporting two injured after the Iran-backed group announced a maritime blockade of the kingdom and hit its ships. Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded fire recently for the first time in years, threatening a 2022 truce that has held despite expiring. The Saudi-led coalition said it hit Houthi sites and destroyed targets threatening commercial vessels in response to attacks on Red Sea shipping. A Yemeni security source said a naval base in Hodeida and a military camp on Kamaran island were among the targets. The flare-up followed an attack on a Saudi ship, as the rebels’ maritime blockade threatened the top oil exporter’s ability to supply the world following Iran’s parallel blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – Riyadh’s only other maritime route. “The terrorist Houthi military … targeted commercial ships in the Red Sea,” Turki al-Maliki, the Saudi-led coalition’s spokesman, said on social media.

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