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Why is Saudi Arabia at war with Yemen's Houthis?

For years the Houthis fired across the border at Saudi Arabia now and then. This autumn the strikes became near-daily, closed Riyadh's main airport and reached Aramco's headquarters. Britain, France and others are now sending forces to help defend the kingdom.

Published 17 Oct 2026 Updated 22 Oct 2026 By Implica 24 sources 8 min read

THE SHORT ANSWER

Because the Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni movement, and Saudi Arabia have been on opposite sides of Yemen's civil war since 2015, and a truce that held from 2022 broke down this year. The Houthis say their strikes retaliate for Saudi backing of government forces in Yemen. They now fire missiles and drones almost daily at Saudi airports, oil sites and cities. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition that backs Yemen's recognized government, and Yemen's government has launched an offensive to retake Houthi-held land. Saudi Arabia and the United States accuse Iran of supporting the Houthis. Tehran denies it.

What happened

The latest wave began in early October. On 8 October the Houthis claimed a missile strike on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, their second day in a row of attacks on it. On 10 October another strike on the airport killed at least 12 people and wounded more than 300. Reports put the toll at 12 or 13. Riyadh's airport has stayed largely shut since, and airlines including Lufthansa and Air India suspended flights. The Saudi-led coalition's spokesman said attacks on the Riyadh and Abha airports this month have killed 19 people.

On 13 October loud booms were heard near Saudi Aramco's headquarters in Dhahran. Aramco is the state oil company. The coalition said it intercepted Houthi missiles aimed at the site. Then came the fallout abroad. France said on 15 October it had started deploying forces to protect the Red Sea port of Yanbu. On 19 October organizers postponed the Future Investment Initiative, a big investor conference due in Riyadh on 26 to 29 October, until 2027. On 20 October Britain announced it would send RAF Typhoon fighter jets to shoot down drones and missiles, though not to strike targets in Yemen.

On 21 October a drone attack on Aramco's Shaybah oil field killed two workers, from Nepal and the Philippines, and an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam killed at least one person and injured eight. Saudi aviation officials said two died at Dammam, while other reports said one. The US State Department ordered non-emergency diplomats and their families to leave Saudi Arabia, and US officials said other Gulf missions would send family members home too.

Why it matters

The fighting now reaches the parts of Saudi Arabia the world depends on: its main airport, its oil sites and its pitch to foreign investors. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose to about $111 a barrel on the attacks, and prices are up more than 80% this year. The war also sits inside a wider regional conflict that began when the US and Israel attacked Iran in late February, so what happens on the Saudi-Yemen front can feed into that larger fight.

  • For civilians and travelers, Deaths on Saudi soil have mounted, airports have closed, and the US and most other Western governments advise against all but essential travel to the kingdom. South Korea told citizens to leave unless their stay is essential.
  • For Saudi Arabia's economy, The kingdom took in roughly $33 billion in foreign direct investment last year against a goal of about $100 billion a year by 2030. Losing its main deal-announcing conference and seeing bankers cancel meetings makes that harder.
  • For Britain and France, Both say their deployments are defensive. Analysts quoted by Al Jazeera warn they could still pull the two countries deeper into the conflict.
  • For the United States, Washington is giving Saudi Arabia intelligence and targeting data rather than joining the fight, and is now thinning out its diplomats in the Gulf while reports say it weighs fresh strikes on Iran.

The background: a Yemeni civil war that Saudi Arabia joined in 2015

A movement from northern Yemen

The Houthis, who call themselves Ansar Allah, are a Zaydi revivalist movement. Zaydism is a branch of Shia Islam found almost only in Yemen. Zaydi-led governments ruled Yemen for a thousand years, until 1962. From the 1960s Zaydis faced discrimination under governments dominated by Sunnis. Zaydis make up about 34% of Yemen's people and Sunnis about 65%.

The movement's first organization, the Believing Youth, was founded in 1992 in Saada governorate in the north. The Houthis fought the government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2004. They accused Saudi Arabia of pressuring Saleh to act against their community and of funding him. Saleh denied this, and Saudi Arabia did not acknowledge it. Their early leader Hussein al-Houthi died that year.

2014 and 2015: Sanaa falls, Saudi Arabia steps in

In 2014 the Houthis led street protests against President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, including over cuts to fuel subsidies. In September 2014 they took control of the capital, Sanaa. Hadi was ousted from the city. Both sides now claim to be Yemen's official government.

On 26 March 2015 Saudi Arabia led a coalition of nine countries into Yemen at Hadi's request. Saudi Arabia is the Houthis' large northern neighbor, and the war has had a cross-border side ever since. In May 2015 the Houthis shelled the Saudi city of Najran. The Saudi-led campaign was criticized by human rights groups, which said coalition airstrikes hit hospitals and homes.

Years of strikes across the border

From 2018 the Houthis hit Saudi territory with missiles and drones. In March 2018 they fired seven missiles at Riyadh, and all were intercepted. In 2019 a Houthi drone struck the East-West crude oil pipeline, and a drone attack on Abha airport killed one person. On 14 September 2019 the Houthis claimed the Abqaiq and Khurais drone attacks, which temporarily halted 5.7 million barrels a day of Aramco's crude production. Riyadh, Jeddah and Ras Tanura were targeted in later years.

In January 2022 the Houthis attacked Abu Dhabi, and coalition airstrikes in northern Yemen reportedly killed at least 70 people. A truce brokered by the United Nations in 2022 then brought relative calm, which lasted until this year.

2026: the truce breaks

The US and Israel attacked Iran in late February 2026. In March the Houthis fired ballistic missiles at Israel and entered the regional war. The calm since 2022 broke down when talks failed. On 13 July the Houthis fired a missile at southern Saudi Arabia after coalition airstrikes on Sanaa airport, the first since the 2022 ceasefire. Reuters reported that Iran used that airport to send military personnel and equipment. The Houthis announced a blockade of Saudi ports on 20 July, claiming the kingdom was besieging parts of Yemen. On 25 July a wave of projectiles struck an Aramco refinery in Jizan.

In September the Houthis began firing on Saudi Arabia almost daily. They advanced toward the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a chokepoint for ships between Asia and Europe. Riyadh called any threat to Mecca a red line after a drone neared the holy city. The Houthis denied targeting it. On 4 October Rashad al-Alimi, head of Yemen's recognized government, announced military operations to retake Houthi-held territory. By 6 October Saudi-backed Yemeni forces had retaken most of the Red Sea coast the Houthis seized the month before.

October: airports, Aramco and foreign help

The attacks on Riyadh's airport in October forced flight cancellations. The Houthis named Aramco's Dhahran headquarters as a target. Saudi Arabia had asked Washington to join the fight, but the US is providing only intelligence and targeting data. Saudi Arabia turned to others. France began deploying forces under an agreement Macron announced on 24 September. Britain sent Typhoons, an Atlas A400M transport plane and military advisers, and extended an air-to-air refueling offer for 90 days. The UAE is reported to have decided to pay some Yemeni government forces, with Saudi air support, and Egypt's parliament has delayed a vote on military support for Saudi Arabia.

GOOD TO KNOW

The Future Investment Initiative, now postponed to 2027, launched in 2017, when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the NEOM megaproject there. Last year's edition drew more than 9,000 delegates.

Why does Yanbu matter?

Yanbu is a Red Sea port city and the end of the East-West pipeline. That route lets Saudi crude reach the Red Sea without passing through the Strait of Hormuz. A Houthi drone struck the pipeline in 2019 and shut it temporarily. This autumn the Houthis announced strikes on an Aramco facility at Yanbu, and the Saudi military said it intercepted a missile heading toward the port. France's troops and air defenses are meant to protect it.

What does a defensive deployment mean?

Britain says its Typhoons will shoot down incoming drones and missiles and will not strike Houthi targets in Yemen. France also describes its role as defensive. HA Hellyer of the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank, asked what would happen if a Houthi attack hit a Saudi ship in the Red Sea while British jets were in a position to stop it. He said the Houthis might see that as offensive even if the UK did not. The reports so far do not say how the two governments would handle such a case.

Timeline: 1962 to today

ROOTS

  1. Zaydi-led rule in Yemen, which had lasted a thousand years, ends.

  2. The Believing Youth, the first organization of what became the Houthi movement, is founded in Saada.

  3. The Houthis fight President Saleh's government and accuse Saudi Arabia of backing it, which Saleh denies.

WAR AND CROSS-BORDER STRIKES

  1. The Houthis seize Sanaa and oust President Hadi from the capital.

  2. Saudi Arabia leads a nine-country coalition into Yemen at Hadi's request.

  3. Houthi drone attacks on Abqaiq and Khurais temporarily halt 5.7 million barrels a day of Aramco production.

  4. A UN-brokered truce brings relative calm to the war.

THE 2026 COLLAPSE

  1. The US and Israel attack Iran, opening a regional war.

  2. The Houthis fire ballistic missiles at Israel and enter the regional conflict.

  3. The Houthis fire a missile at southern Saudi Arabia after coalition airstrikes on Sanaa airport.

  4. The Houthis announce a blockade of Saudi ports.

  5. Houthi strikes hit an Aramco refinery and the Yemeni port of Mokha.

  6. Overnight Houthi strikes wound 73 civilians as their forces push toward the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

  7. The Houthis claim fresh strikes on a Saudi oil port, and Riyadh says it intercepted a drone near Mecca.

  8. Yemen's government head Rashad al-Alimi announces military operations to retake Houthi-held territory.

OCTOBER ESCALATION

  1. The Houthis claim strikes on Riyadh airport and an Aramco refinery as Saudi-backed forces retake most of the Red Sea coast.

  2. The Houthis claim a second day of missile strikes on Riyadh airport, and airlines suspend flights.

  3. A strike on Riyadh's King Khalid airport kills at least 12 people and wounds more than 300.

  4. Booms are heard near Aramco's Dhahran headquarters, and the coalition says it intercepted Houthi missiles.

  5. France says it has begun deploying forces to protect Saudi oil facilities.

  6. Organizers postpone the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh until 2027.

  7. Britain announces it will send RAF Typhoons to defend Saudi cities and oil sites.

  8. Drone attacks on Shaybah and Dammam airport kill at least three people, and the US orders non-emergency diplomats out of Saudi Arabia.

What to watch next

  • Other Gulf missions. US officials say missions in other Gulf states will also order family members to leave.
  • US strikes on Iran. The New York Times reports that the US and Israel have plans to resume strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections, and Trump is weighing options for next month.
  • More Western and Arab help. Egypt's parliament has delayed a vote on military support for Saudi Arabia, and Britain's refueling offer runs for another 90 days.
  • The investment conference. Organizers said they would announce new 2027 dates very soon.

Sources

How this article was made: Implica's editorial system wrote it from the news reports above, with the background drawn from Wikipedia: Houthis, Yemeni civil war (2014–present), Saudi-led intervention in the Yemeni civil war, Houthi–Saudi conflict.

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