Deaths reported in Sanaa
Al-Masirah, a television channel affiliated with the Houthis, reported airstrikes in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, citing an official from the Houthi-controlled health ministry. It said at least 25 people were killed, most of them women and children, and at least 30 others were wounded. The channel blamed Saudi Arabia and said the attacks would not go unanswered.
Accounts differed on the location. The Associated Press and DW placed the strikes on Saturday, November 7, 2026, in al-Shariya, a farming village under Houthi control about 15 kilometers (10 miles) northeast of Sanaa, rather than within the city. They reported that homes were hit.
Saba, the Houthi-controlled news agency, separately reported further strikes on homes and rescue workers in the area without providing a death toll. Neither Saudi Arabia nor the Saudi-led military coalition initially issued a statement.
The deaths followed another deadly strike on Friday, November 6. Houthi officials said at least 30 people were killed when a market in southern Yemen was hit. According to DW, the Houthis and Yemeni government forces each accused the other of responsibility.
Houthis name targets in Saudi Arabia and Yemen
The Iran-backed militia subsequently claimed six missile and drone attacks across Saudi Arabia and several Yemeni provinces. Military spokesman Yahya Saree said the targets included Riyadh's international airport and oil facilities, as well as sites in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province and the Ad Dawadmi area west of Riyadh.
Saree also described three attacks against Saudi-backed government troops: one at a camp in Najran, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, and the others in Yemen's al-Jawf and Marib provinces. He said the operations were a response to deadly attacks in the Yemeni provinces of Taiz and Sanaa.
An earlier attack on Riyadh's airport
Riyadh's airport had already suffered a deadly strike on October 10, 2026, when a projectile hit the departure area at King Khalid International Airport. Saudi Arabia's civil aviation authority reported 12 deaths and 309 injuries. Tagblatt reported that it was the airport's third attack in a week.
According to Tagblatt, the Houthis can strike targets roughly 1,000 kilometers away, deep inside Saudi Arabia. Saudi air defenses did not stop the projectile that hit the airport. Coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki described that attack as a war crime and pledged a decisive response.
Renewed fighting and civilian losses
Saudi Arabia supports Yemen's internationally recognized government, and the coalition it leads has fought the Houthis for more than a decade. The conflict has intensified during the Iran war, with the Houthis recently increasing their attacks on Saudi territory.
A UN-brokered ceasefire agreed to in 2022 collapsed in July 2026, ending several years of truce and setting off renewed escalation, according to Tagblatt and the Associated Press. Houthi offensives in September brought much of Yemen's Red Sea coast under the group's control, including the port of Mokha and strategic islands in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
On October 4, Yemen's internationally recognized government announced a counteroffensive named "Dawn of Yemen." Tagblatt reported that the operation, supported by around 100 Saudi-led coalition fighter jets, aimed to drive the Houthis out of Sanaa and other areas.
The Associated Press reported that the most intense ground combat has been around Taiz, a strategic southern city held by the government. Houthi forces have encircled the city, worsening conditions for its civilian population. The United Nations says the intensified fighting in Yemen has killed more than 1,600 people and displaced more than 300,000.
