Houthi forces struck a merchant vessel with a missile, killing crew, as Saudi Arabia has massed ground forces and is assessing a large-scale counteroffensive to retake Houthi-held Red Sea coastline. The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital and northern areas since 2014, now hold Red Sea positions facing Saudi territory and possess weapons that can directly threaten the Saudi mainland; on Aug. 9 they claimed a drone attack on Aramco’s Jazan refinery. Yanbu is a major Saudi export terminal

Houthi forces struck a merchant vessel with a missile, killing crew, as Saudi Arabia has massed ground forces and is assessing a large-scale counteroffensive to retake Houthi-held Red Sea coastline. The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital and northern areas since 2014, now hold Red Sea positions facing Saudi territory and possess weapons that can directly threaten the Saudi mainland; on Aug. 9 they claimed a drone attack on Aramco’s Jazan refinery. Yanbu is a major Saudi export terminal, shipping about 4 mln bpd of crude. Riyadh has already led formation of a maritime defence coalition and deployed forces but analysts point to poor Saudi performance in the 2014–22 Yemen campaign, the failed 2018 Hodeidah assault and a this-year rift with the UAE, all of which complicate prospects for a successful ground offensive.