SANAA, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia had carried out 52 air and missile strikes against Houthi-held areas across five Yemeni provinces over the past 24 hours, as intensified fighting and aerial attacks continued on several fronts.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement posted on social media platform X that Saudi F-15 and Typhoon fighter jets, operating from the Saudi air bases of Khamis Mushait and Taif, along with missiles launched from the direction of the Saudi city of Jizan, struck areas in the provinces of Hodeidah, Taiz, Al-Bayda, Marib and Saada.
The strikes killed and wounded a number of people, including women and children, and damaged telecommunications networks, schools, bridges and roads, Sarea said, without providing a casualty toll.
Sarea said the latest attacks brought the total number of Saudi air and missile strikes since the current escalation began to 988, a figure that Saudi Arabia has not immediately commented on.
Meanwhile, Yemeni government forces said in a statement posted on X on Wednesday that an airstrike targeted a meeting of Houthi leaders in Al-Wazi'iyah district in the western parts of Taiz province.
"We targeted a meeting of Houthi militia leaders" in Al-Wazi'iyah, the government forces said, without providing details on possible casualties.
Local residents told Xinhua that armed Houthi fighters deployed around the bombed site shortly after the strike and prevented people from approaching the area.
The strikes came amid an escalating confrontation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, with Saudi airstrikes targeting Houthi-held areas across Yemen and the group launching missiles and drones at targets deep into the kingdom.
Yemen's conflict erupted in late 2014 when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to support the internationally recognized Yemeni government. ■
