Houthi missile and drone attacks on three Saudi cities injured 13 civilians (Express Tribune).
Where and what
Khamis Mushait, Abha and Taif. Seven homes and two vehicles were destroyed; injuries were described as minor to moderate.
Taif is the northernmost of the three, well beyond the southern border belt that has absorbed most of these attacks.
The competing accounts
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki accused the Houthis of “deliberately targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure”, and said the coalition would “take measures to deter further attacks under the right to self-defence”.
The Houthis said they had targeted “aircraft hangars, radar systems, runways and ammunition depots” at a military airbase in Khamis Mushait, in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes in Yemen.
Both statements can be partly true at once — a strike aimed at an airbase that lands on houses is described accurately by neither side. What is established is that seven homes were destroyed and 13 people were hurt.
Iran’s directive
Major General Ali Abdollahi issued a passive defence plan setting out three scenarios.
| Scenario | Measures | |—|—| | Full-scale war | large public gatherings and in-person events suspended; focus on operational preparedness, continuity of essential services, resource management, public assistance, inter-agency coordination | | Ceasefire | public preparedness, vigilance against hybrid warfare, information security | | End of war | full resumption of exercises, training and public programmes |
A state publishing instructions for what to do if a full-scale war begins is not the same as a state expecting one. It is, however, a document that did not need writing a month ago.
The week this sits in
Saudi Arabia’s east-west pipeline remains affected after drone strikes; the Oman meeting on the Strait of Hormuz was called off at Saudi request; Brent passed $107; and petrol in Pakistan rose again today.
What is not established
No independent assessment of what was hit in Khamis Mushait has been published. Iran’s directive does not state what would constitute the onset of any scenario, and no connection between the Houthi attacks and the Iranian plan has been asserted by either party.
[Image: Press TV via The Express Tribune]
