Yemen conflict surges as foreign troops join Saudi defense pact and mass displacement hits the UN

UPDATE - follow-up to Yemen's Houthis say struck Riyadh airport, other Saudi sites: Pakistan and Turkiye plan to send military forces to Saudi Arabia under a new joint defense pact signed in August. The agreement follows weeks of Houthi cross-border strikes, including a recent hit on King Khalid International Airport and an Aramco oil refinery near Riyadh. Saudi-led coalition warplanes flew one hundred dawn sorties, while naval forces struck military facilities in Hodeida to stop a planned assault on southern Red Sea waterways. Pro-government troops pushed fighters from Mocha, Dhubab airport, the Al-Omari military camp, and parts of Taiz, cutting off the main supply line to Mocha port. Meanwhile, the United Nations reports that ongoing clashes have displaced over one lakh eighty-four thousand people, making Yemen the most active battleground in the wider West Asia conflict.

Context

These developments mark a sharp escalation in a civil war that has lasted for years across Yemen, drawing in neighboring powers and threatening critical global energy routes. The Bab al-Mandeb Strait and Red Sea shipping lanes remain vital chokepoints for international oil shipments and maritime trade.