Houthis claim Saudi airstrikes targeted Yemen's Sanaa, Mokha

Yemen's Houthi group claimed on Saturday that the capital Sanaa and the city of Mokha in Taiz governorate had come under a series of airstrikes by Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi-run Yemen News Agency quoted an unnamed local source as saying that "Saudi aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes on various areas of Mokha, west of Taiz governorate."

The source said aircraft were still flying over the area but provided no further details on the outcome of the attacks.

Separately, the agency said Saudi aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes on Sanaa, targeting the areas of Asr and Hamdan.

It claimed that civilians were killed and wounded in the strikes, but did not provide casualty figures.

There was no immediate response from Riyadh on the claims by the rebel group.

Earlier on Saturday, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, said two ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis toward the Saudi cities of Taif and Yanbu had been intercepted and destroyed.

The Houthis have controlled Sanaa and other parts of the country since 2014.

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen's government against the Houthis since 2015.

Recent escalation between Yemen's government forces and the Houthis began in July as a 2022 ceasefire collapsed. The group has also targeted Saudi Arabia's energy and civilian sites.