Houthi fighters were pushing Monday to seize the Kahboub Mountains heights in Yemen’s Taiz and Lahij provinces — a move aimed at cutting the Red Sea coast off from remaining Saudi-backed areas in the south, Reuters reported.
The New York Times said the Trump administration prepared Sunday airstrikes after fresh pleas from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, then called them off at the last minute even as troops were loading bombs onto aircraft. Reuters could not independently verify the report; U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis said Saturday they had fired on Riyadh, where loud booms were followed by smoke near the airport. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the first apparent strikes on the capital since the escalation began. The Iran-backed group seized Yemen’s Red Sea coast this month; fighting has centered on Al-Wazi’iyah in Taiz and Ras al-Ara, with Bab al-Mandab control threatening Saudi Arabia’s alternate oil-export route around Hormuz disruption.
The United Nations says nearly 700 people have been killed and thousands injured in the flare-up, with more than 120,000 Yemenis displaced inside the country and thousands more fleeing by boat to Africa. Satellite data shows Saudi Hormuz exports climbing to about 2.9 million barrels per day recently from just 700,000 in August. U.S. retail diesel hit another all-time high Monday above $6.51 a gallon.
Sources: Reuters
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