Dubai (AFP) – Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years.

The attacks come as Yemen is increasingly drawn into the US-Israeli war with Iran, with the rebels stepping up attacks against both government forces and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key US ally and supporter of the internationally recognised Yemeni government.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels attacked government positions with ballistic missiles and drones in response to an alleged military buildup backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

The attacks killed at least 58 government troops and injured dozens, according to the military source who spoke on condition of anonymity. Medical sources had earlier spoken of 38 dead.

Yemen has become a new front in the Middle East war that has grown around the US-Israeli battle against Iran.

A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Thursday’s attacks on troop camps was the worst in Yemen since 2022.

Yemen’s defence ministry said in a statement that its armed forces would respond to the attacks “at the appropriate place and time”.

The escalation spilled across the border on Thursday, with Saudi officials saying Houthi attacks wounded 11 civilians in the southern Najran region.

Coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki said the wounded included seven Saudis, a Yemeni, two Egyptians and a Pakistani, according to a statement carried in the official Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition backing Yemen’s government against the Houthis since 2015.

Al-Malki accused the rebels of carrying out “indiscriminate shelling against civilian objects” and said coalition forces would continue taking measures to protect civilians.

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