Scores killed as Houthis, Yemen govt, Saudi Arabia trade attacks

Fresh fighting left scores of combattants dead in Yemen on Thursday, as Saudi Arabia reported its first death since hostilities flared anew and its Yemeni government allies sought to roll back the group's recent gains.

The sides have been locked in increasingly violent exchanges since Yemen's civil war roared back to life, with the Iran-backed Houthis launching a new offensive that saw them capture all of the country's Red Sea coast.

At least 23 government soldiers were killed over the previous 24 hours in missile and drone attacks by the group in two southwestern provinces, a government military official told AFP on Thursday.

Houthi military sources reported 40 fighters killed in Saudi airstrikes and fighting on the ground during the same period.

Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia's civil defence agency reported the country's first fatality since the Houthis began targeting their territory as part of their revived campaign.

"The fall of shrapnel from a downed drone in Taif governorate resulted in one death, two injuries, and material damage to several buildings and vehicles," the agency said, in a statement posted on social media, adding that the person killed was a Yemeni national.

Images posted by Saudi state media showed windows in cars and shop fronts shattered by the shrapnel, with nearby buildings also damaged.

The incident came a day after Riyadh accused the Houthis of launching a "cowardly" thwarted drone attack targeting Islam's holy city of Mecca, a claim the group denied.

The EU voiced its "full solidarity" with Saudi Arabia as it condemned the recent Houthi strikes.

"We urge the Houthis to cease all military action," said a statement from EU foreign affairs spokesman Anouar El Anouni, adding "the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure is unacceptable".

Earlier in the day, the Houthis said "Saudi enemy warplanes targeted three telecommunications towers" in Taiz province, with one civilian killed and another injured in strikes on the town of Abs, Almasirah television said.

The Houthi-backed outlet later reported that "three children were killed and several Yemeni nationals were injured in strikes by the Saudi-backed mercenaries", a reference to the country's internationally-recognised government.

The Houthis have been reporting dozens of daily Saudi strikes since they launched their new offensive and seized control of strategic areas overlooking the Red Sea's Bab al-Mandab Strait from government forces.

With Iran already throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the outbreak of the wider Middle East war, their Yemeni allies' latest gains cement their hold on the other main shipping corridor for Gulf oil and gas.

The route had been especially important to Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, which had used a pipeline to bypass the Hormuz and send oil to the Red Sea, which links Europe and Asia via the Suez Canal.

In July, a fragile 2022 truce between the Houthis and the government fell apart after the group allowed an Iranian plane to land in the capital Sanaa in defiance of Riyadh's control over Yemeni airspace, setting off a spate of attacks.

They also announced a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia and began striking its ships and territory.

The conflict in the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes, according to the United Nations.