Reuters says an airbase and oil infrastructure were hit; the coalition says civilian and economic sites

What was struck. Al-Monitor, carrying Reuters copy, says the Houthis "struck an airbase in Khamis Mushait and oil infrastructure in nearby cities" on Tuesday. An-Nahar, quoting the coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Malki, says the attacks hit "civilian and economic sites" in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran. The Saudi energy ministry, in the same report, says energy plants and facilities in the south were targeted, causing fires and "a temporary halt to some operations".

The same 73. Both reports carry the figure. Reuters writes "wounding 73 people". An-Nahar writes "73 civilians", attributed to the coalition. Both trace to the coalition, so this is one account rather than two.

Who warned whom. Al Jazeera says Pakistan warns the Mecca defence agreement "may be activated". Al-Monitor adds that Pakistan delivered a Saudi warning to Iran, from Saudi, Pakistani and Iranian sources it does not name.

Not settled. How much crude or refining capacity stopped, and for how long: no report we hold gives a figure. One report names an airbase among the targets; none denies it. None of the three names anyone hurt, gives a death toll, or carries a Houthi or Yemeni voice.

What this is about. Yemen's Houthi movement fired missiles and drones at cities and energy sites in southern Saudi Arabia. The attacks raise the question of whether a war that had mostly gone quiet on the Saudi border is starting again.

How it got here. - 2014: The Houthis, an armed movement from Yemen's north also called Ansar Allah, took the capital, Sanaa, and pushed out the internationally recognised government. - March 2015: Saudi Arabia formed a military coalition to restore that government. It began bombing Houthi areas. The Houthis answered with missiles and drones fired across the border, often at the same southern cities hit this week: Abha, Khamis Mushait, Jazan and Najran. - September 2019: An attack hit the Saudi oil plants at Abqaiq and Khurais. The Houthis claimed it. The United States blamed Iran, which denied it. - April 2022: A UN-brokered truce began. Cross-border attacks largely stopped, even after the truce formally lapsed. - Late 2023 onward: After the Gaza war began, the Houthis attacked shipping in the Red Sea. The Saudi foreign ministry told An-Nahar those attacks are still going on. - February 2026: Reuters, carried by Al-Monitor, dates a "U.S.-Israeli war on Iran" to February. It calls Tuesday's strike one of the biggest on Saudi Arabia since then.

Who is involved, and why. - The Houthis govern most of northern Yemen's population. They are allied with Iran. - Saudi Arabia leads the coalition. The targets were its oil facilities and its southern cities. - Iran backs the Houthis. How much it directs them is disputed. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters he believes "the Iranian hand" is behind some of the attacks. - Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia in September 2025. Under it, an attack on one counts as an attack on both. That is why Pakistan's warning matters.

What is at stake. Saudi Arabia is one of the world's largest oil exporters. Damage to its plants can reach fuel prices far from the Gulf. A return to cross-border war would end the calm that has held since 2022. If the pact were activated, a nuclear-armed state would be drawn into the conflict.

Where it stands. The coalition says there were more attacks on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia says it has the right to respond. No report we hold says how much output stopped, or for how long.