Fresh Houthi strikes slammed Yemen’s oil-rich Marib province on Friday, killing at least 10 people, officials said, a day after the rebels carried out what a military source described as their deadliest attack in years.
The renewed violence has sharpened fears that Yemen could slide back toward broader war, after a 2022 truce between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government largely held until it began to unravel last month.
A Yemeni military source said Houthi attacks in Marib province killed eight members of government forces and wounded 12 others.
The health minister for the Saudi-backed government said the rebels shelled residential areas and displacement camps in Marib city, killing at least two civilians and wounding 14 others.
The Iran-backed rebels later claimed an attack on a government-held military camp in Marib province.
“The Saudi enemy continued to mobilise and incite its forces … these forces were attacked along with their arsenals, vehicles and military equipment in the Sahn al-Jinn camp with a large number of missiles and drones,” Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a statement, referring to the camp held by government forces.
Health minister Qasim Buhaibeh said in a post on X that “shelling by the terrorist Houthi militia today, Friday, targeting residential neighbourhoods and displacement camps in the city of Marib, has resulted — according to an initial toll — in the deaths of two civilians and injuries of varying severity to 14 others”.
The Houthis had also launched “more than 10 missiles and seven one-way attack drones targeting military camps in Marib” province, the Yemeni military source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.
A source close to the Saudi military said that the Saudi-led coalition supporting the Yemeni government since 2015 would not stand “idly by” as the Houthis step up their attacks, adding that Marib was a “red line”.
He warned that “the coalition does not seek escalation, but we will not allow the current balance of power on the ground to be changed”.
Riyadh would not accept a Houthi takeover of Marib, he said, adding that he believed the rebels were seeking to launch an offensive in the province.
Strategic province
The rebels said yesterday that they had attacked several sites in response to a Saudi-backed build-up of government forces.
Those attacks with missiles and drones killed at least 58 government troops, mainly in Marib, an army source said earlier, one of the deadliest incidents between the two sides in years.
Marib’s importance runs deeper than the latest battlefield tallies. The strategic province is divided between the Houthis and the Yemeni government, which holds Marib city as well as key oil fields and facilities.
The Houthis in 2021 resumed an offensive aimed at seizing the energy-rich province, but the fighting largely ebbed after the nationwide truce agreed in 2022.
Yemen, which has been engulfed in more than a decade of war, last month became the latest arena drawn into the US-Iran conflict, as the Tehran-backed Houthis upended the 2022 truce.
The rebels welcomed an Iranian plane directly to the Yemeni capital Sanaa, triggering a series of tit-for-tat attacks. They later announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began hitting its tankers.
Last month, the Houthis also killed 16 soldiers in an attack on government-aligned forces south of the port city of Hodeidah, two medical officials said.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan pledge mutual defence
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey have signed a joint defence agreement in Mecca, bringing together Sunni Muslim US allies alarmed by a widening regional conflagration that has sent missile fire toward Gulf oil exporters.
Iran and its allies have been firing on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and blockading their energy shipments, since the US and Israel attacked it on 28 February in a major escalation after years of regional tumult.
The three countries said the agreement is designed to bolster collective deterrence against aggression and includes a provision that any armed attack against one would be treated as an attack against all, according to a joint statement.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L), Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (C),and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (R) signed the trilateral defense agreement in Mecca
While the statement did not spell out the exact commitments or obligations each party accepted under the “Mecca Joint Defence Agreement”, it said the pact seeks to reinforce collective security and advance peace, security and stability in the region and beyond.
“The pact includes a collective defence clause. It is purely defensive in nature, pledging mutual support only for defence,” a Turkish official said.
The agreement was not aimed at any specific actor, the official said, noting it was open to other regional countries and did not cancel or replace existing bilateral or multilateral arrangements.
Even so, the three nations are particularly worried by what they view as increasingly aggressive military postures from both Israel and revolutionary Shi’ite Iran, at a time when their longtime US ally is struggling to contain regional upheaval.
Powerful political symbolism
The chairman of Saudi-based think tank has described the political symbolism of the summit as “significant”.
“Three of the Muslim world’s most influential states are convening at a moment of heightened uncertainty, demonstrating a growing willingness among regional and middle powers to coordinate more closely on security matters,” said Abdulaziz Sager.
“If institutionalised and translated into concrete cooperation, the trilateral framework could strengthen the three countries’ collective diplomatic and defence weight while contributing to the emergence of a more regionally driven security architecture,” he added.
Each partner brings distinct heft. Turkey has NATO’s second-largest military. Saudi Arabia, the strongest Gulf state, hosts Islam’s holiest sites and ranks among the world’s top oil exporters, while Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed Muslim country.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by powerful army chief Asim Munir, performed the Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca before Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s arrival.
They met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose country has been repeatedly struck by Iran, as well as by Tehran’s Houthi allies in Yemen and Shi’ite militia in Iraq, since the war began on 28 February.
The conflict has also shaken the security of Riyadh’s Gulf allies and largely halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a route that carried about a fifth of global energy supplies before the war.
Their pact follows nearly a year of negotiations, reported by Reuters in January.
Pact builds on longstanding military ties
The Middle East has been in flames for nearly three years since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, with almost every country in the region facing cross-border attacks or missile or drone fire.
Israel has waged war in Gaza, invaded southern Lebanon and seized territory in Syria, and has also launched two air campaigns against Iran.
Tehran has attacked US bases and civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan and Israel.
While Turkey and Pakistan, on the borders of the Middle East, have avoided significant direct attacks, both are eager to cool conflicts that could spill into their own security and economic interests.
For Saudi Arabia, the past three years of conflict have carried heavier costs, threatening oil exports and ambitious development plans while raising new doubts about the reliability of its long-standing US security umbrella.
It expects imminent coordinated attacks from both the Iraqi militias and the Houthis under Iranian supervision, a senior Saudi official said yesterday, highlighting Riyadh’s drive to widen its network of alliances.
Signing the agreement in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site, adds a layer of symbolism to a pact that also rests on longstanding military relationships among the three nations.
Mansoor Ahmed, of the Australian National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, said Pakistan and Turkey bring established defence industries, while Saudi Arabia could contribute through technological spending.
However, the agreement would likely not include a nuclear element, Ahmed said, because Pakistan’s atomic deterrent is focused on what it sees as the threat from India.
Pakistan has long provided training and technical assistance to Saudi forces, while Turkey and Pakistan have exchanged warships and training aircraft. In 2023, Riyadh agreed to buy Turkish drones in what Ankara described as its largest defence export contract.
Pakistan has since deployed about 8,000 troops, fighter jets, drones and an air-defence system to the kingdom, Reuters reported in May, and has pursued broader Gulf security ties.
It has opened negotiations with Kuwait over an expanded pact in exchange for energy cooperation and investment, Reuters reported in July.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
