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A projectile launched by Yemen’s Houthis hit a school in Saudi Arabia’s southern city of Najran on Friday, causing material damage but no reported casualties.
The Iran-backed group also claimed Saudi forces carried out 94 strikes on areas under its control over the previous 24 hours, bringing its reported total to 1,350 since renewed fighting began.
Meanwhile, the army of Yemen’s internationally recognized government, based in Aden, reported 474 operations against Houthi targets across several fronts, claiming 1,540 group members were killed or wounded.
The escalation precedes a planned meeting between Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan in Riyadh next week, where the three countries will discuss the Houthi attacks under their Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.
Earlier, the Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognized government said it had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward Khamis Mushait.
The coalition provided no further details on casualties or damage. A day earlier, the coalition reported intercepting and destroying two ballistic missiles over Khamis Mushait and Jazan, along with four drones over Khamis Mushait.
Also on Thursday, Saudi Civil Defense said debris from an intercepted Houthi ballistic missile fired toward residential areas fell in Khamis Mushait, damaging several buildings and vehicles. No casualties were reported.
Khamis Mushait has repeatedly been targeted during the conflict. On Sept. 14, the Houthis claimed a large-scale attack involving dozens of ballistic missiles and drones against King Khalid Air Base in the city.
The missile launches were reported as Yemen’s government forces stepped up operations against Houthi positions, with missions carried out using warplanes, drones, artillery, missiles and rocket launchers.
The campaign covered fronts from southern Haradh and the coast to Kitaf, Al-Jawf, Marib, Al-Bayda, Lahj, Sanaa and Saada, with a particular focus on Taiz, military spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nazili said.
He said the targets included Houthi gatherings, reinforcements, command-and-control centers and other military capabilities. Al-Nazili also claimed 216 military vehicles and other assets were destroyed or damaged.
The spokesman claimed the operations halted Houthi advances in Taiz and prevented the group from achieving a breakthrough on the ground.
Earlier Friday, the army said its warplanes carried out 20 strikes against Houthi movements and reinforcements in Taiz. Government forces also reported strikes against what they described as high-value targets in Sanaa and Saada.
On Wednesday, the army said it carried out 468 operations against Houthi fighters and military equipment on three fronts, claiming hundreds of casualties.
The Yemeni army also reported that intense clashes were underway with Houthi forces on the northern front of Taiz city, while fighting continued elsewhere in the province.
At least two civilians, including a 14-day-old infant, were killed and seven others injured Friday in separate shelling incidents blamed on the Houthis across Taiz province.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said a woman was killed when a Houthi shell struck a residential home in Al-Turbah. Separately, the group reported that a 14-day-old infant was killed and a 2½-year-old child injured in shelling in the Al-Dhabab area of rural Taiz.
Local sources told the state-run Saba news agency that Houthi artillery also struck residential areas in the Old Airport and Wadi al-Qadi neighborhoods of central Taiz, injuring six civilians and damaging several homes.
The latest fighting marks the broadest military escalation between government forces and the Houthis since Sept. 10, when the group seized the strategic city of Mokha near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The escalation began in July, the largest since the relative calm that followed a 2022 truce. Fighting intensified in September, leading to Houthi control over several key locations in Al Hudaydah and Taiz provinces, including Mokha, while their advance extended to Mayun Island overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Yemen has been at war since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several provinces in 2014. A Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the Yemeni government.
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