Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they had launched drones towards Saudi Arabia's Dammam airport, as well as an early-warning radar in Jizan and a military transport aircraft at Jizan airport, Reuters reported. There was no immediate Saudi confirmation of the claim.
Source: Reuters
Separately, Houthi officials said Saudi-led coalition airstrikes on Monday hit the Red Sea port of Ras Isa and an oil facility in Yemen's western Hodeidah province, wounding at least seven people. Four people were injured in strikes on Ras Isa port and three others at an oil company facility in the Bajil district, according to the Houthi-run health ministry, whose spokesperson Anees Alasbahi announced the figures on X. The Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah television channel reported that a pier and a commercial vessel at Ras Isa were also struck; a full damage assessment was not provided.
Source: Terror Monitor
The Saudi-led coalition said it had carried out what it described as a "precision operation" to neutralise vital resources used by the Houthis, characterising the targeted facilities as resources supporting the group's military activities. Houthi authorities described the strikes as attacks on civilian infrastructure — accusations that have not been independently established.
What is solid
- Reuters reported the Houthi claim of drone launches toward Dammam airport and targets in Jizan on Monday; Saudi Arabia had not confirmed it.
- The Saudi-led coalition said it carried out a precision operation against resources it says the Houthis use militarily.
- Earlier on Monday, Saudi civil defence issued alerts for Taif, Abha, Khamis Mushait and Najran and later sounded the all-clear, and the coalition said it had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile — developments Awaaz Punjab reported earlier on Monday.
What is only claimed
- Houthi officials said coalition strikes on Ras Isa port and a Bajil oil facility wounded seven people (four at Ras Isa, three at Bajil) and hit a pier and a commercial vessel — figures and damage claims announced by the Houthi-run health ministry and Al-Masirah TV, not independently verified.
- Whether the drones claimed by the Houthis reached or damaged any target in Dammam or Jizan — no Saudi confirmation has been issued.
Monday's claims follow a weekend of escalation that Awaaz Punjab has been reporting: the coalition's operation against Houthi resources in Hodeidah on Sunday, the Houthis' advance to within 80 kilometres of Aden — their closest approach since 2015, according to military sources who spoke to Reuters — and repeated missile and drone exchanges that have shattered the truce which had largely held since 2022.
Ras Isa is a major oil terminal on Yemen's Red Sea coast, north of Hodeidah city, used for importing and storing oil and fuel, while Hodeidah's port is a main entry point for food, commercial goods and humanitarian assistance to Houthi-controlled areas. Strikes on such facilities raise concerns for essential supplies in Yemen, where millions depend on humanitarian aid, and for shipping through the Red Sea, a vital route for world trade and Gulf oil exports — a direct concern for the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers across the Gulf whose safety and remittances depend on the region staying stable.
What happens next will depend on whether Riyadh confirms or answers the drone claim and whether the exchanges around Hodeidah widen. Awaaz Punjab will update this story as official confirmations arrive; unconfirmed claims from either side will continue to be reported as claims, not facts.