Houthis Say They Hit a Saudi Base — Here's What We Know

Houthi fighters said on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, that they fired drones and missiles at a Saudi military base in the south of the kingdom. The claim, reported by The Guardian, names the Sharurah base near the Saudi-Yemen border.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree wrote on X that the Sharurah operation hit "weapons depots and command and control centres managing aggression against the Houthi nation and people." That means places where weapons are stored and offices used to run military orders. The message did not say when the attack happened. The X account linked to Saree now shows an account-suspended notice.

Saudi officials have not confirmed a strike on Sharurah. On Saturday night, Saudi officials said a Houthi weapon landed near the Saudi-Yemen border. Two people were hurt. A mosque, several buildings and cars were damaged. Riyadh has treated border landings like this as separate from claimed attacks on military bases. Neither side has shared pictures to prove damage at Sharurah.

The Houthis said on Saturday evening that Saudi planes carried out 129 airstrikes on areas they control in the past 48 hours. That number could not be checked on its own. Both sides have reported more air activity in the past week.

Yemeni government forces said on Saturday they hit Houthi fighters in Mocha, a city on the Red Sea. They later attacked other Houthi positions in southwestern Yemen. Yemen's military said Sunday on X that its Air Force carried out three airstrikes on Houthi positions and living quarters in the Taiz region. Mocha and Taiz sit on roads that link the Red Sea coast to Yemen's highlands inland. Who holds those roads and bases decides who gets supplies.

This follows earlier attacks inside Saudi Arabia. The Houthis attacked Abha, Khamis Mushait and Jazan in the south with ballistic missiles and drones, according to a Sept. 10 report from Reuters. The Houthis said drones and missiles hit an airbase and many Saudi oil targets, in a Sept. 9 report from Reuters. In July, the Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing Saudi Arabia of bombing an airport they control, according to a July 14 report from Reuters. The Houthis also claimed missile and drone attacks on two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, according to a July 23 report from Reuters.

The Houthis recently declared a sea blockade of Saudi Red Sea ports. That means an effort to stop ships from reaching those ports. Axios reported that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman twice called Donald Trump last week to ask for strikes on the Houthis and that the request was rejected. The United States said it destroyed five Iranian oil ships in the same early-September period. U.S. officials have not publicly linked the two actions.

The UN migration agency said on Saturday that 76,000 people had fled fighting in Yemen since July. Sources on both sides said renewed fighting has killed more than 500 people.

The broader context here is that three fights are linked together, like three fronts in one war. Strikes across the border challenge Saudi air defence. Fighting around Mocha, Taiz and the southwest shows if Yemeni government forces can hold land with air help. Threats at sea affect shipping, insurance costs and port work in the Red Sea.

For what could come next, proof matters most. A proven hit on storage sites and command offices at Sharurah would show the Houthis can find and hit a guarded base. A claim without proof can still put pressure on Riyadh and on Yemeni units that depend on Saudi air help. Watch where Saudi strikes go next, whether Yemeni forces move on the ground after Taiz, and whether the sea blockade is enforced. If the U.S. stays out after the reported Trump-bin Salman calls, the air war stays centered on Saudi and Yemeni government planes while more people are forced to flee.