Saudi Arabia Strikes Yemen's Al-Barh Bridge Again as Houthi Conflict Escalates

Saudi warplanes struck the Al-Barh Bridge in southwestern Yemen early Thursday, marking the second attack on the crossing in two days, according to reports citing Houthi-linked media.

Ynet, citing the Houthi-run Al-Masirah news channel, reported that two airstrikes targeted the bridge. The reported strikes came as Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said Saudi aircraft had carried out 40 airstrikes across Yemen over the previous 24 hours.

The Houthis also claimed Wednesday evening that they had shot down a Saudi drone in Haradh, a city in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to IRIB. The claim could not be independently verified, and Saudi officials did not immediately comment.

The exchange reflects the wider escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthi movement, which has controlled large parts of Yemen since 2014 and has frequently traded cross-border attacks with Saudi forces. A Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 to restore the internationally recognized government, but the war has since killed tens of thousands of people and produced one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Strikes on bridges and other transport links can disrupt civilian movement and the delivery of goods, compounding hardship in a country where infrastructure has been repeatedly damaged by years of conflict. Cross-border drone and missile claims by the Houthis, meanwhile, raise the risk of further retaliation and regional spillover.

This is a developing story. Casualty figures and further details were not immediately available.