Saudis pound Yemen as Houthis fire back, further widening Middle East war

Iran-backed rebels in Yemen have launched drones and missiles at Saudi cities, as the Kingdom launches hundreds of air strikes against Houthi positions, in a further sign that the conflict is worsening. Houthi strikes on a Saudi pipeline has disrupted up to 4 per cent of global oil shipments, further exacerbating the supply shortage triggered by the Iran war. The US is now issuing new warnings to government employees operating in Saudi Arabia. Saudi warplanes have intensified their strikes on Yemen as Iran-backed Houthi fighters launched another salvo of drones and missiles at Saudi cities, as a new front in the Middle East conflict continues to grow. The rebel movement announced renewed strikes on the Kingdom in a move threatening to exacerbate a global energy supply shortage first triggered by the US and Israel's decision to launch a war on Iran. In a sign of the worsening conflict in a new theatre, the United States tightened its travel warning for Saudi Arabia, banning government employees from travelling within 32 kilometres of the Yemen border. The Houthis, who since last week have swept through Yemeni towns along the Red Sea coast and seized islands in the Bab el-Mandeb strait at its mouth, released battlefield video overnight of fighters seizing armoured vehicles from Saudi-backed forces. Warplanes flew overhead and huge explosions billowed into the sky from desert dunes, the video showed. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had launched fresh drone and missile strikes on the major Saudi Red Sea oil port of Yanbu, and at a southern Saudi airbase at Khamis Mushait. Saudi officials and oil company Aramco did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Mr Saree said the Saudis had carried out as many as 450 air strikes on Yemen this week. Officials in the Saudi-backed government that controls southern Yemen have acknowledged that their forces and those of Saudi Arabia were conducting air strikes on Houthi positions, though Riyadh itself has not confirmed them. Danger of global energy shortage worsening The Houthis have fired repeatedly into Saudi Arabia over the past week causing alarms over cities in the south and west. An attack blamed on Iran-aligned fighters in Iraq last week also knocked out Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline, the main route used to divert oil exports from the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. Riyadh said its air defences had shot down a Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, an attack it said crossed a "red line" of threatening shrines sacred to all Muslims. The extension of the war into Yemen threatens to worsen the global energy supply shortage caused by the six-month-old US-Israeli war on Iran, which has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The price of Brent crude hovered around $US108 ($151) a barrel on Wednesday, close to its highest levels since May. The politically sensitive average retail price of diesel fuel in the United States hit another all-time high above $US6.30 a gallon for the first time. Traders say a prolonged closure of Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline could cut off as much as 4 per cent of global oil supply. Saudi Arabia has not said when operations might resume, but US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC on Tuesday that crude oil should be flowing through the pipeline within days.