SAUDI Arabia has threatened to hit back after Iran-backed Houthis pounded the state with their worst attack in years.
The barrage of missiles from Houthi rebels set oil facilities ablaze and injured 73 people, including women and children.
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Saudi Arabia vowed revenge after the overnight attacks caused shutdowns at oil sites in the south of the kingdom.
Its foreign ministry demanded a halt to the strikes and said it would “take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty”.
It warned that “every aggression against our country and people will be met with a firm response”.
Neighbouring Kuwait condemned the attacks as “a flagrant violation” of Saudi sovereignty.
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Its foreign ministry said the strikes were a breach of international humanitarian law, branding them “a dangerous and unjustified escalation”.
Houthis blasted the Saudi cities of Abha, Jazan, Najran and Khamis Mushait, hitting “civilian and economic facilities” according to spokesman Major Gen. Turki al-Malki.
The Yemeni city of Merib was struck four times in response to the attacks, the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV broadcaster reported.
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It comes after weeks of escalating clashes between Yemen’s Saudi-backed government forces and the rebels, that have completely shattered a truce in the country’s civil war.
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The two sides paused fighting nearly four years ago.
Hundreds of forces have died in recent days, with the UN estimating that at least 150,000 people have been killed since the civil war erupted in 2014.
Many of those were killed in clashes around the Bab al-Mandab strait, the mouth of the vital Red Sea shipping route that leads to the Suez canal, allowing oil to flow from the Middle East to Europe.
With Iran suppressing the flow of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, a threat to the Bab al-Mandab strait, also known as the Gate of Tears, could be catastrophic to global trade.
As the Iranian-backed Houthis lashed out at Saudi cities, the Yemeni armed forces are fighting to regain control of their capital, Sanaa, from the rebels.
The Houthis have controlled Sanaa for more than a decade, but Yemeni government aligned forces are now “on the outskirts” of the capital, a spokesperson said.
They warned residents to stay in their homes and “refrain from engaging in any armed actions”.
The latest flare up in fighting came after Houthis accused the Saudis of a prison attack that killed 11 people.
The rebels had reignited hostilities in July by letting an Iranian plane land, defying Saudi control of Yemeni airspace.
Hits from the overnight attacks included a blast on one of the country’s biggest oil facilities in Jizan, with a capacity of 400,000 barrels per day.
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It had already been out of action for several weeks this summer after previous attacks, according to maritime tracking company Kpler.
They hit Abha International Airport, King Khalid air base and facilities belonging to state oil giant Aramco in Abha and Jizan, according to the rebels’ official media.