Houthis claim repelling government advance as Saudi-led coalition says 82 Houthi military targets destroyed

Yemen's Houthi group said Wednesday that Saudi forces had carried out 156 air and missile strikes on the Houthi-held capital Sanaa and five other provinces, as the group reported fresh fighting with government forces in Yemen's northern province of Al-Jawf near the Saudi border.

In a statement posted on social media platform X, Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said the Saudi strikes hit areas in Sanaa and the provinces of Taiz, Saada, Al-Jawf, Marib and Amran, claiming that civilian sites were among the targets but provided no details.

According to Sarea, the latest attacks brought the number of Saudi air and missile strikes recorded by the group since the current escalation began to 1,798.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia.

Sarea also said Houthi forces had repelled an attempt by government forces to advance toward the group's positions in eastern Al-Jawf.

He said the Houthis targeted troop gatherings in Al-Jawf with ballistic missiles and drones, claiming dozens of government soldiers were killed or wounded and several military vehicles destroyed.

Also on Wednesday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said that it had launched a comprehensive operation, destroying 82 Houthi military targets across several provinces, in response to the attacks on civilians and civilian sites in the kingdom.

Coalition spokesman Turki Al Maliki said on the social media platform X that the operation hit sites in the provinces of Saada, Hodeidah, Al-Jawf and Marib.

The targets included ballistic missile-related threat sources of which there were 11 mountain-based missile storage sites in Saada, command and control centers, communication systems, missile and weapons depots, and Houthi gathering sites, Al Maliki added.

He said the operation followed the attacks on civilian objects in Saudi Arabia, most recently targeting King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh and Abha International Airport.

Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said early Wednesday that three people were killed and 36 others were injured in the two separate attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Yemen's conflict began in late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government, now based in the southern port city of Aden.

Houthis claim repelling government advance as Saudi-led coalition says 82 Houthi military targets destroyed

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday backed plans to accelerate emergency oil stock releases, as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that global energy prices could remain elevated through 2027.

Under the plan, the IEA will place approximately 100 million barrels of oil onto the market after member nations green-lighted the completion of previously announced stock releases "as soon as possible."

On March 11, the 32 members of the IEA unanimously agreed to make available to the market 400 million barrels of oil from their emergency reserves, the largest such release in the IEA's history.

The IEA will also support the prioritization of diesel stock releases "to the extent possible" given the current tightness in diesel markets.

To date, about 325 million barrels of oil have been released under the March 2026 collective action, with some countries releasing more than they initially pledged, the IEA said.

On the same day, the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said even if the conflict in the Gulf were to end soon, high energy prices would likely persist for some time.

Brent futures, for example, now predict high oil prices through 2027, she said in the curtain-raiser speech for the 2026 Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group, which will take place from Oct 12 to 18 in Bangkok.

So far, the energy price shock has been large but contained thanks to energy efficiency, fuel-source diversification, reserve releases, supply chain agility, and the usual organic demand and supply response, Georgieva said.

Nonetheless, despite a shaky recovery in flows out of the Gulf, oil prices remain around 100 U.S. dollars a barrel, reflecting risks, high transport costs and other factors, she said.

IEA backs emergency oil stock release as IMF warns of lasting price pressures