[Anchor]
Yemen's Houthi rebels, who are shaking up the Middle East, are advancing toward oil-rich regions controlled by the Yemeni government and the border with Saudi Arabia. Amid escalating security threats, reports have emerged that Saudi Arabia has proposed a truce to the Houthis.
Reporter Gwak Sang-eun has more.
[Reporter]
The exterior walls of buildings are shattered, and glass doors are smashed to pieces.
Roads are pockmarked with holes, and nearby vehicles are severely damaged.
On the 17th local time, drone debris from the Houthis fell in Taif, western Saudi Arabia, killing one person and injuring two others.
This marks the first time a fatality has occurred on the Saudi mainland since clashes intensified between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and the Houthi rebels.
Casualties continue to mount on both sides, with reports indicating that three children were killed and several others injured in a government airstrike in Yemen's Taiz Governorate.
After seizing Mokha, Bab el-Mandeb, and Mayun Island sequentially last week to take control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea, the Houthis are now marching eastward toward Taiz.
Taiz is a strategic stronghold traversed by the key highway connecting Houthi-held territories to Aden, the Yemeni government's temporary capital.
If this area falls into Houthi hands, their control over the southern Red Sea will grow even stronger.
At the same time, the Houthis are setting their sights on Marib, the financial lifeline of the Yemeni government forces.
As the region concentrated with Yemen's largest oil and gas fields, the fall of Marib to the Houthis would severely undermine the Yemeni government's economic foundation.
This is also a critical blow to Saudi Arabia.
It would open the gateway to Hadramout Governorate in the east. If Hadramout—which accounts for more than half of the roughly 1,300-kilometer border between Saudi Arabia and Yemen—falls under Houthi influence, it would impose a heavy burden on Saudi border security.
[Adam Baron / Middle East Expert, US]: "Saudi Arabia plays a significant role in the conflict in Yemen. The Houthis are employing a strategy to isolate Saudi Arabia."
As the crisis deepens, reports have surfaced that Saudi Arabia asked Iran, through China, to restrain the Houthis.
However, Iran reportedly rejected the Saudi request, stating that regional peace and stability depend on an end to the war against Iran by the US and Israel.
Growing desperate, Saudi Arabia has reportedly proposed a two-week ceasefire to the Houthis through Oman, though it remains uncertain how the Houthis, who are advancing rapidly, will respond.
(Video Editing: Kim Byung-jik, Design: Kim Ye-ji)
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