Saudi-backed Yemeni forces claim 700 Houthis killed in single day of fierce combat

Yemen's Saudi-backed government forces claim to have killed around 700 Houthi fighters within a 24-hour period, in what would represent one of the deadliest single days of combat in the long-running conflict. The military said the losses were sustained as its troops pressed efforts to recapture territory held by the Iran-aligned rebel movement.

The announcement came as fighting intensified across the country, with the Houthis hitting back by claiming responsibility for strikes on energy infrastructure inside Saudi Arabia. The group alleged it had carried out precision missile and drone attacks on an Aramco facility in Riyadh, with smoke and fire visible near the site.

Neither claim could be independently verified. The exchange of strikes underscores the widening reach of a conflict that has drawn in regional powers and caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with both sides regularly making battlefield claims that are difficult to confirm from the ground.