No official toll has been released, and some Yemeni media reported higher figures.Government forces said they had carried out air strikes on Houthi positions in western Taiz province. In northern Lahij, they said they had recaptured positions in al-Maqatira district, which lies on a key defensive line linking Taiz with Aden, the internationally recognised governmentās capital.Houthi-affiliated media reported four air strikes on a Central Security Forces camp in the city of al-Bayda, and a strike on a health centre in al-Silw district in Taiz.
The Houthis claimed strikes from Saudi Arabia, which backs the Aden government, had killed civilians over two days this week.Yemenās Interior Minister Ibrahim Ali Haidan said 21 foreign experts were directing Houthi operations: 14 from Iranās Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and seven from Lebanonās Hezbollah. Hezbollah rejected the accusation as ābaselessā.Meanwhile in Saudi Arabia, civil defence authorities twice activated early-warning sirens in the southern Najran region on Wednesday morning, after a similar alert overnight in the Riyadh region.On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone over Mecca.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied launching any attack on Saudi territory.The United States embassy in Riyadh warned that Houthi attacks on the kingdom could escalate quickly. US government staff require special permission to use any airport in Saudi Arabia.