Saudi Arabia said attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeting energy facilities on Tuesday sparked fires and the temporary shutdown of some operations.

"Several energy sector facilities and installations in the southern region of the kingdom were targeted this morning," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted an energy ministry source as saying.

"The attacks caused fires at several locations, leading to a temporary halt in some operations", as well as several injuries, it said.

Earlier in the day, a Riyadh-led grouping, Joint Forces Command of the Coalition, said 73 people were wounded in the attacks and vowed to respond.

Days of fighting near the Red Sea coast have left more than 300 people dead and displaced hundreds of families as the Houthis try to capture land bordering the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait.

Houthi media Ansarollah on Tuesday said the rebels hit targets in Saudi Arabia, including Abha International Airport, King Khalid Air Base and facilities belonging to state-owned oil giant Aramco in Abha and Jizan.

The strikes came after the Houthis accused Riyadh on Monday of carrying out strikes around Yemen, including the deadly bombardment of a prison.

The attack on the jail in Al-Hazm in the country's north killed 11 people and left 20 inmates missing under the rubble, rebel TV channel Almasirah quoted Hassan Saboula, director-general of civil defence in Jawf province, as saying.

Saba news agency, which is also affiliated with the Houthis, reported earlier that a child visiting the facility was among the dead.

The Houthis launched a broad offensive along frontlines on the western Red Sea coast in a bid to advance towards the Bab al-Mandab Strait, experts say.

The waterway forms the southern entrance to the Red Sea, a shipping artery that has become vital for Saudi oil exports during Tehran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the US-Iran war on Iran.

The war in Yemen between government forces and the Iran-backed Houthis reignited in July, following several years of calm.

The conflict, which has pitted the Houthis against the internationally recognised government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, has seen the rebels take over most of Yemen's major population centres, including the capital Sanaa. (AFP)



Edited by Tony Sabine