Coalition says Houthis launched 14 missiles and more than 60 drones in October
Key Facts
Coalition figures cited by Arab News said the Houthis launched at least 14 ballistic missiles and more than 60 armed drones toward the Kingdom during October through 23 October. The tally places the reported attacks in the context of continued escalation during the month, but does not represent figures for a single day. In a separate account of attacks on 24 October, Yemen's Interior Ministry said the Houthis attacked the coast guard headquarters with two ballistic missiles. The Houthi military spokesman said a camp and a naval base near Aden airport were targeted. The two accounts differ in their descriptions of the sites hit in the city.
Arab News cited coalition and Saudi government reports as saying October's attacks had killed 24 people and injured at least 374 through 23 October. The monthly tally includes incidents that preceded reports on 24 October and does not refer only to that day's missiles. The figures in the report did not specify how deaths or injuries were distributed across the different incidents. They also do not, by themselves, show whether the casualties were linked to attacks targeting Saudi Arabia or to fighting inside Yemen. The casualty toll accompanies the coalition's figures for missiles and drones during the same month.
In the context of fighting inside Yemen, the Associated Press said a Houthi attack on a government forces camp in Shabwa on 19 October killed at least 53 soldiers and wounded 200 recruits. The agency attributed those figures to the attack on the camp, not to all clashes during the month. Its report linked the intensifying fighting to renewed clashes since the summer. The agency said the escalation had upended the 2022 ceasefire agreement. The attack places the incident in the context of widening fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces.
The defense response linked to the escalation extended to Britain, with the Associated Press saying the United Kingdom had expanded its defense support for Saudi Arabia to include air patrols by Typhoon aircraft. The agency quoted the British defense minister as saying the aircraft would carry out "counter-air defense operations over Saudi Arabia." The minister stressed that the aircraft would not strike Houthi targets on the ground. The statement defines the announced mission as defensive and rules out the aircraft's participation in strikes on targets inside Yemen. It gave no date for the start of the patrols or details about their duration.
In another move amid concerns about escalation, the Associated Press said the U.S. State Department had ordered nonessential staff at the Riyadh embassy and its affiliated consulates to leave. The agency's report said King Khalid International Airport had been closed since 10 October following an attack it described as severe. It also reported that Lufthansa and Air France had canceled flights to Riyadh through mid-November. These developments add a dimension involving travel and diplomatic presence to the reported military attacks. The report did not specify when flights would resume or staff would return.