CAIRO (AP) — Rescuers in Yemen pulled more bodies from the rubble Wednesday of a prison run by Iran-backed Houthi rebels that was hit in a deadly airstrike earlier this week, as an escalation between the rebels and a Saudi-led coalition threatened Yemen's fragile ceasefire.
The renewed fighting is also threatening global oil shipments as the Houthis target shipping and oil infrastructure that’s helping keep oil flowing through the Red Sea while the U.S.-Iran war has throttled shipments through the key Strait of Hormuz on the opposite side of the Arabian Peninsula.
The prison in Hazm, the Jawf provincial capital, collapsed on Monday when coalition strikes hit the area, killing at least 23 people, including the four whose bodies were found on Wednesday.
It wasn't immediately known how many people were in the prison at the time of the strikes, which also left seven people injured.
Following the strike on Monday, the Houthis retaliated on Tuesday with attacks on southern Saudi cities. The coalition early Wednesday responded with more strikes on rebel-held areas. The Saudi-backed government forces advanced in the eastern part of Hazm on Wednesday, cutting off supply routes to the Houthis, the military’s media office said.
The rebels reported 48 airstrikes over 12 hours in the provinces of Jawf, Marib, Hodeida, Taiz, Bayda and Saada, the rebels’ stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia.
Hassan Saboula, director of Jawf's civil defense agency, said a child was among the 23 killed on Monday and that rescue teams were still searching for seven missing from the attack.
The identities of those killed have yet to be determined, al-Masirah satellite news channel cited Saboula as saying. Among the seven injured was a woman who was visiting her husband, said Anees al-Asbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi-run health ministry.
In a statement Wednesday, Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed the prison strike was carried out by an F-15SA Saudi aircraft. He said the aircraft took off from King Khalid Air Base in Khamis Mushait, the kingdom's fifth-largest city, at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, hit the prison and returned to the base 15 minutes later.
The Saudi government didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The rebels said they targeted the base on Tuesday as part of their strikes on several cities in southern Saudi Arabia.
Yemen plunged into civil war in 2014, when the Houthis descended from their northern stronghold and seized the capital, Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government to flee southward and then into exile in Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi-led coalition entered the Yemen war the following year in an attempt to restore the government. The war has killed at least 150,000 people, according to U.N. estimates, and at times pushed the country to the brink of famine.
The escalation between the rebels and the coalition started when the Houthis attempted in July to fly a plane from Tehran, Iran's capital, to Sanaa, the rebel-controlled Yemeni capital, challenging a decade-long air and naval blockade by the coalition. The coalition struck the runway in Sanaa, preventing the flight from landing.
The Houthis have since targeted Saudi Arabia and attacked Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. On Tuesday, they hit several Saudi oil facilities in southern Saudi Arabia where some operations have since been temporarily suspended, according to the Saudi Energy Ministry. The kingdom sounded sirens multiple times on Wednesday across several southern Saudi cities, warning residents to take shelter for fear of potential attacks.
Also, the rebels have been attacking Saudi-allied government forces on multiple fronts within Yemen. However, government forces turned the tide earlier this month, striking Houthi positions on the Red Sea, on Yemen’s western coast.
Before the Jawf prison strike, the violence in Yemen killed at least 194 people between Aug. 23 and Sept. 5, and wounded over 880, according to the World Health Organization. More than 21,000 people have been displaced.
The escalation shattered a four-year truce that had largely halted the fighting in the civil war.
In another development, supporters of the now-dismantled separatist group in southern Yemen blocked a convoy of Gen. Taher al-Aqili, the defense minister of the internationally recognized government, in the province of Dhale, according to residents.
The separatists set fire to a number of vehicles, said residents Khaled Saleh and Hamoud Nasser. Security forces quickly dispersed the separatists, they said.
The Southern Transitional Council dissolved itself in January after weeks of clashes with government forces across southern Yemen. The STC was an umbrella organization for groups that seek to restore southern Yemen as an independent state. The group was backed by the United Arab Emirates.
People read a newspaper to follow the war news at a shop in Sanaa, Yemen, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)
FILE - A Houthi Shiite rebel mans a machine gun mounted on a military truck in Sanaa, Yemen, Monday, Oct. 20, 2014. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed, File)
PARIS (AP) — Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé scored titleholder Paris Saint-Germain's first goals of the new Champions League campaign, and his first goals the season, when he netted twice in a 6-1 home win against Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday.
He also set up a goal in each half for new signing Ferran Torres, whose well-taken hat trick took Spain's World-Cup winning forward onto five goals since joining from Barcelona in the offseason.
It was a welcome return to form for Dembélé, one of France's World Cup stars with six goals, following a frustrating start to the domestic season.
He was taken off at halftime in PSG’s Ligue 1 opener after a lackluster performance against Rennes in a 2-2 draw, and was then left out of the next game against Lille by coach Luis Enrique. Dembélé was ineffective as a late second-half substitute in a 2-1 home loss to Monaco last Friday.
“We’re happy and I’m also happy with my performance," Dembélé said. “After quite a difficult start where I haven’t played much. I’m happy today, to have 60 minutes in my legs."
Dembélé didn't get much rest in the offseason as France reached the World Cup semifinals, losing to Spain on July 14.
“I needed to come back physically too," he said. “Because after the World Cup I didn’t have much holiday.”
Dembélé put PSG ahead in the 17th minute against Slovan, reacting quickly after Nuno Mendes’ swerving shot hit the post and steering the rebound inside the right post.
He clipped a shot wide from just inside the left of the penalty area moments later, before heading in his second goal in the 23rd from 18-year-old midfielder Dro Fernandez's right-wing cross.
“It’s the Ousmane we know, who we have had the last three years,” Luis Enrique said. “When you see his ability to create, his ability to press.”
Slovan coach Yaya Touré also praised Dembélé's performance.
“Today he was at 200 percent and he really hurt us today, he is a superb player,” Touré said. "I can't put three or four players on him otherwise there will be space everywhere."
Dembélé then set up Torres, who drifted in to meet his cross.
Moments later, Dembélé dropped to his knees in frustration when he somehow hit the crossbar from close range as PSG sliced Slovan apart. Ten PSG players were nominated Tuesday on the shortlist of 30 for the Ballon d’Or, which Dembélé won for the first time last year.
Before facing Slovan at Parc des Princes, PSG had failed to win its previous four games, conceding seven goals and losing the French Super Cup to Lens.
“We also needed to win this match because we started the season badly,” Dembélé said.
In a far easier contest, PSG took advantage of weak opposition to muster 35 shots on goal and 13 on target.
Torres showed delightful skill for his second goal moments after the break, taking a deft touch to control Maghnes Akliouche’s pass before curling the ball in from the edge of the area.
Akliouche created the goal with a jinking run from deep, the type he produced for Monaco against PSG last season. Torres guided in Dembele’s corner from the right for his hat trick in the 57th before Suleiman Camara replied for Slovan moments later with a fine finish.
Camara's performance was a rare positive for an overwhelmed Slovan side, whose sloppy defending gifted Fabián Ruiz the ball for the sixth goal late on.
Touré said his team learn valuable lessons from the defeat.
“The level of PSG is incredible,” Touré said. "My players really learned today what the highest level is. The margin of difference is enormous.”
As Bradley Barcola started in attack for new club Liverpool, his replacement Akliouche took the field for PSG alongside Torres and Dembélé.
Luis Enrique praised Akliouche's two-way play.
“We’ve been watching him for more than one year, we thought we had everything to play for our club. He is one of the players who had adapted most quickly to what we want,” he said. “He has a lot of ability on the ball, comes back to defend and also makes great runs."
See AP’s full soccer coverage here
PSG's Ferran Torres scores during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ferran Torres celebrates after scoring his third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele shouts during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele shouts during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele, right, celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSG and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
