Houthis Escalate Attacks on Saudi-Backed Forces in Yemen's Marib

Houthi rebels launched fresh missile and drone attacks Friday on the eastern Yemeni city of Marib, Yemen's state-run Saba news agency reported, a day after strikes on government military positions left dozens dead and wounded.

Yemeni armed forces shot down several Houthi drones over Marib, according to the report. Videos circulating on social media showed smoke rising over the city. The Houthis had not issued a statement on the latest attack.

The strikes followed an announcement Thursday by Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree that the group had carried out a "large-scale and special military operation" targeting "Saudi military build-ups in Marib and Hadramawt." He said the operation killed and wounded hundreds of Yemeni soldiers and destroyed military camps, weapons depots and equipment in the Al-Wadiah area of eastern Yemen.

Accounts of the toll differ. The Saudi-backed Yemeni Joint Operations Command confirmed the deaths of 17 soldiers and officers. A military source told the AFP news agency that at least 58 government troops were killed, in what a second military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described as the worst attacks in Yemen since 2022. Yemen's defense ministry said its armed forces would respond "at the appropriate place and time."

The Saudi-led coalition said Friday that 11 civilians were wounded in what it called "Houthi terrorist attacks" on the southern Saudi city of Najran. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki said the injured included seven Saudi nationals — among them a woman and a 4-year-old child — as well as one Yemeni, two Egyptians and one Pakistani, with some suffering second-degree burns. He accused the Houthis of firing indiscriminate projectiles at civilian areas, calling it "a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."

Yemen is being drawn further into the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, now in its sixth month, with the Iran-backed rebels stepping up attacks on both government forces and Saudi Arabia. Saudi sources with knowledge of the matter said Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan were set to sign a joint defense agreement in Jeddah on Friday.

In Washington, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the United States should increase pressure on Tehran, including by arming Iranians who oppose their government. "I think our objective should be regime collapse," he told CBS News national security analyst Aaron MacLean on the "School of War" podcast. Cruz called a memorandum of understanding with Iran a "disaster" and a "terrible deal."