Yemen Conflict Escalates As Houthis Attack Saudi Arabia

The conflict in Yemen intensified on Sunday, as government forces launched attacks against Iran-backed Houthi rebels along the Red Sea and Houthis fired into neighboring Saudi Arabia , which supports Yemen’s government. 

The Yemeni government vowed to send more forces to the Red Sea coast and one official conceded a “painful” defeat last week when Houthis captured the port city of Mokha and an island on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait , a crucial shipping alternative to



the Strait of Hormuz.

The escalation — especially Houthi attacks on Saudi oil infrastructure and its shipping in the Red Sea — adds pressure on global oil supplies and prices, and that could give Iran leverage in its war with the United States. 

As Yemen risks descending into another civil war , the United Nations estimated that more than 80,000 people in the impoverished country have been displaced by the fighting since the start of September.