CAIRO — The Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen launched a wave of attacks on Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, wounding more than 70 people and igniting fires at oil facilities and utilities, the Associated Press reported.

Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen, said the attacks hit “civilian and economic facilities” in Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait and wounded 73 people, including women and children. He called the attacks a “serious escalation” and vowed retaliation.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry said the attacks ignited fires at several oil facilities and utilities in the kingdom’s southern region and that operations at those sites were temporarily suspended as firefighters battled the blazes Tuesday morning. The southern region includes major oil infrastructure such as a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery in Jazan.

In a prerecorded statement, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels fired dozens of ballistic missiles and drones at oil and economic facilities and an air base, targeting Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries, Aramco facilities in Najran and Abha, and King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait. Saree blamed Saudi Arabia for the escalation.

AP noted that weeks of clashes have pressured limited global oil supplies as Houthis target a shipping route Saudi Arabia has used while the Strait of Hormuz is throttled by the U.S.-Iran war — Tuesday’s strikes hitting facilities connected to the Bab el-Mandeb alternative route.

Sources