Saudi warplanes have reportedly struck Iran-backed Houthi positions around Taiz in western Yemen, following an earlier wave of attacks near Saada on Sunday, October 11, 2026. Houthi-affiliated media and Al Jazeera reported strikes on areas including Hayfan district in Taiz and Sahar in Saada, as fighting intensifies with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. Video circulating online shows distant plumes of smoke and explosions rising over a mountainous urban area, consistent with airstrike footage from Yemen's contested terrain, though the clip has not been independently verified. Saudi authorities have generally said little about individual strikes, so many of the details are coming from Houthi-run outlets.

The strikes are part of a sharp escalation that began after a roughly four-year truce collapsed, when Iran flew a plane carrying a Houthi delegation into Sanaa without Saudi authorization and Riyadh responded by hitting Sanaa airport. The Houthis have since hit Saudi targets, including oil infrastructure, announced a naval blockade on Saudi ships in the Red Sea, and seized the port city of Mocha on September 11, while Taiz has become one of the war's most fiercely contested fronts. Houthi officials claim well over a thousand Saudi air and missile strikes since the latest round began, and Yemen's government says it has also been hitting Houthi targets. With more than 100,000 civilians already displaced across the country, the fighting on multiple fronts shows no sign of cooling.