Houthis claim missile strike on military trucks in SE Yemen

SANAA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Monday that it had carried out a ballistic missile strike on trucks it claimed were transporting military equipment from Saudi Arabia to the Al-Wadiah military camp in Yemen's government-controlled southeastern province of Hadramout. The group said locally-made ballistic missiles were used in the attack. It published footage purportedly showing trucks being hit and catching fire. There was no immediate information on casualties, and the claim could not be independently verified. The attack came amid an escalation in Yemen, where government forces backed by Saudi Arabia have been battling Houthi forces on several fronts. Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on social media platform X on Monday that Saudi Arabia had intensified airstrikes and reconnaissance flights and supplied weapons to Yemeni government forces. Yemen has been mired in conflict since late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene the following year in support of the internationally recognized Yemeni government. A UN-brokered truce that took effect in April 2022 expired six months later without a formal extension, but a fragile de facto ceasefire has largely held until the recent escalation. The Houthi group announced a maritime ban on Saudi shipping in July and has since claimed attacks on Saudi tankers and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. ■