Saudi Arabia Expands Bombing Campaign Against Houthi Rebels; Traditional Market Strike Leaves 50 Casualties

[Financial News] Saudi Arabia, which has intensified airstrikes on Houthi rebels since the beginning of this month, bombed a traditional market in southwestern Yemen, leaving about 50 people dead or injured.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement on the 27th (local time) that Saudi carried out two airstrikes that day on a traditional market in a Houthi-controlled area of Ta'izz Governorate in southwestern Yemen, killing or injuring about 50 people. Al Masirah TV, a Houthi media outlet, reported that an airstrike on a market in Ta'izz killed seven people and injured 40. Five children were reportedly among the injured.
Ta'izz Governorate is a key transportation hub in southwestern Yemen and one of the main front lines where government forces and Houthi rebels continue to clash.
After nearly 30 years of authoritarian rule, Yemen saw President Ali Abdullah Saleh removed from office in 2011, and a transitional government was established. Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi was elected to lead the transitional government. However, the Houthis, an armed group aligned with Shia Islam, joined forces with remnants of Saleh's government and launched a rebellion, capturing the capital in 2014. The Hadi government fled to Saudi Arabia, the leading Sunni power in the region.
Saudi Arabia, the leading Sunni power, formed a coalition with eight Middle Eastern countries, including Egypt, to drive out the Shia forces backed by Iran. It began airstrikes against the rebels in March 2015. After the United States announced in 2021 that it would end its support for the air campaign, Saudi Arabia entered a ceasefire with the Houthis through UN mediation in April 2022.
However, Yemen's front lines became dangerous again after the Houthi rebels resumed missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi cities last July. This month, the Houthis have expanded their offensive by taking control of parts of Ta'izz Governorate and seizing key coastal cities near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the gateway to the Red Sea. Saudi also began launching full-scale airstrikes on Houthi-controlled areas this month in response.
According to Spanish news agency Agencia EFE, the Houthi Health Ministry said in a press release on the 27th that at least 67 civilians had been killed and 107 wounded in Saudi attacks since the 3rd of this month.
The Houthi Health Ministry claimed that the Saudi-led coalition had attacked civilian infrastructure, including schools, markets, tent camps for displaced people and mosques, as well as detention facilities such as prisons. It also claimed that most of the casualties were women and children. Earlier, the UN Human Rights Office confirmed that 38 civilians had been killed in Yemen since the first of last month.
Meanwhile, according to AFP, the Houthis have continued carrying out long-range strikes against Saudi Arabia. Schools in Riyadh notified parents on the 27th that in-person classes would be suspended and remote learning conducted for the following week.
[email protected] Park Jong-won Reporter