Saudis pound Yemen, Houthis fire at Saudi, as Middle East war spreads

(Reuters) – Saudi warplanes pounded Yemen and Houthi fighters launched drones and missiles at ​Saudi cities, the Iran-backed movement said on Wednesday, after a lightning advance that has extended Tehran’s reach in the Middle East war.

In a sign of the worsening ‌conflict in a new theatre, the United States tightened its travel warning for Saudi Arabia, banning government employees from travelling within 20 miles of the Yemen border.

The Houthis, who since last week have swept through Yemeni towns along the Red Sea coast and seized islands in the Bab el-Mandeb strait at its mouth, released battlefield video overnight of fighters seizing armoured vehicles from Saudi-backed forces. Warplanes flew overhead and huge explosions billowed into the sky ​from desert dunes, the video showed.