Houthi Missile-and-Drone Barrage Wounds 73 in Saudi Arabia, Called the Pact's "First Real Test"

Yemen's Houthi rebels launch a large-scale barrage of ballistic missiles and drones deep into southern Saudi Arabia, hitting Saudi Aramco energy facilities and King Khalid Air Base across Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran, wounding at least 73 civilians including women and children and igniting fires that temporarily halt operations at several sites. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree calls it a "large-scale, long-range military operation," framing it as retaliation for over 120 Saudi-led coalition strikes on Yemen in the preceding days. Saudi coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki calls it a "dangerous escalation" and a "blatant violation" of sovereignty; Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan says Riyadh "will always support peace and diplomatic solutions, but will not hesitate to defend ourselves." The Jerusalem Post's analysis frames the strike as the first real test of the month-old Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, since it directly attacks Saudi soil rather than shipping, with India and Israel described as watching how Turkey and Pakistan respond.