Houthis say Saudi strikes on Taiz market killed seven people

Houthi authorities said a strike on a market in the Yemeni city of Taiz killed at least seven people and wounded 40 on 27 September 2026. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree accused Saudi Arabia of launching two air raids that hit a market on the outskirts of the city, saying nearly 50 people were killed or wounded without specifying the exact breakdown of casualties.channelnewsasia.com

The casualty figures matter because they come as fighting in Yemen escalates after a truce broke down. The Houthis' Al-Masirah TV channel first reported that a strike killed seven people and wounded 40 more at a market in Taiz, minutes after reporting that a Saudi fighter jet had targeted the area. In a subsequent statement, the channel, citing the Houthis' health ministry, said five children were among those wounded.bbc.co.uk

What Houthi authorities reported

Saree said blood was "unjustly and aggressively spilled" in a statement posted online, vowing there would be consequences for the attack. Multiple Houthi sources later said that nearly 30 fighters from the group were killed in the series of strikes, while eight civilians died. That account gives a higher total death toll than the seven killed figure reported by Al-Masirah.

Government sources claim Houthi fighters had set up a military camp nearby, but conflicting accounts and limited ground access make the strike and its intended target difficult to verify independently. Yemen's internationally recognised government says its forces targeted a Houthi military camp and vehicles at the same junction where the market was hit, according to a still image taken from a social media video on 27 September 2026.

Images broadcast by Al-Masirah showed vehicles with blown-out windows as well as damaged warehouses, where goods were covered in a thick layer of dust. The city itself remains under the control of government forces but has long been besieged by Houthi fighters and remains one of the main fronts in Yemen's civil war.

Government forces dispute the target

Fighting around Taiz has intensified since the Houthis seized the strategic Red Sea port of Mokha, 85km to the west of the city, on 10 September, after a ceasefire that had largely held for four years unravelled. The group took control of a swathe of territory overlooking the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial shipping corridor linking Europe and Asia. This contributed to a rise in oil prices as fears rose of further disruption to supplies from the region.

Taiz is Yemen's third biggest city and its cultural capital, and is home to close to a million people. It sits at a vital intersection between Houthi-controlled areas in northern Yemen and government-held ones in the south, and is hemmed in by front lines in several directions. Government forces hold the centre of Taiz, while Houthi positions lie to its north and east.

Where the fighting stands now

On 26 September, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted two Houthi drones that were heading in the direction of the capital Riyadh. Schools in Riyadh announced on 27 September that they would be shifting to remote learning for a week, without giving a reason, according to messages sent to parents and seen.

Yemen's war erupted in 2014, when the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa from the Saudi-backed government, before going on to take control of vast swaths of the country's north. Riyadh intervened in the war the following year at the head of an international coalition. Despite Saudi backing, Yemen's government forces have been unable to repel the latest Houthi offensive. The country is one of the poorest in the world and remains gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis. Contacts from the Houthi side have said they are consolidating troops, preparing for a major offensive, while government forces said they are aware and were preparing too.