This is the moment Houthi rebels fight pro-Saudi forces in a ‘Mad Max-style’ desert battle.
Footage shared on social media is believed to show Iran-backed fighters chasing pro-Saudi forces across barren landscape in an undisclosed location in Yemen.
A Saudi convoy of armoured vehicles can be seen attempting to ‘charge’ Houthi positions in the desert.
In one clip, a body is seen cartwheeling through the air after an explosion before smashing into the ground.
Meanwhile armoured trucks, some with mounted machine guns, are flipped upside down after being struck by explosives – possibly from a rocket-propelled grenade or an air strike.
In other footage, a pickup truck is seen racing across the sand at such speed that soldiers in the back are thrown violently up and down before one is flung from the vehicle and left behind by his comrades.
The battle resembles scenes from the 2015 blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy in which two rebels take on a tyrant controlling scarce water supplies in an apocalyptic desert world.
The warring sides are fighting after a Saudi-led coalition staged a military intervention in Yemen in 2015.
Footage is believed to show Iran-backed fighters chasing Yemen’s pro-Saudi forces across the desert in scenes that have been compared to Mad Max
Video showed a number of vehicles being struck with explosives. Pictured: A military vehicle burns in the sand after it is blown up
Houthis launch mortar attacks on Saudi-backed forces in the desert
It was launched after the Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi was ousted by the Houthis, an armed political and religious group belonging to the Shia Muslim community.
The rebel group is backed by Iran, a majority Shia country, while most of the Muslim populations in Saudi Arabia and Yemen follow the Sunni branch of Islam.
The armies are fighting for control of vital Red Sea shipping routes.
Last month the Houthis seized a number of strategic islands off the coast of Yemen, putting them in a position to threaten one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
If they can seriously disrupt the Bab el-Mandeb strait, the consequences could extend far beyond Yemen, hitting oil supplies, global shipping, inflation and ultimately economic growth.
A lightning advance by the Iran-backed group last month extended the wider Middle East conflict to a new theatre and further threatened global energy supplies.
Oil prices surged above $100 after a drone strike shut a key Saudi oil pipeline, while Houthi advances threatened the Red Sea route Saudi Arabia was relying on to bypass the disrupted Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude rose 1.17 per cent to $106.92 a barrel, while the average US diesel price surpassed $6 a gallon for the first time last week as the war, compounded by Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries, further squeezed global supplies.
The Iran war has forced Saudi Arabia to shift its exports away from the Persian Gulf, since Iranian attacks have stifled shipping through the gulf’s sole exit, the Strait of Hormuz.
The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital since 2014, seized the country’s Red Sea coast last month in an advance that routed forces of the Saudi-backed government.
The Mad Max-like battle scenes comes as it was reported that Saudi Arabia has rejected Israel’s support in the fight against the Houthis.
It is understood that Tel Aviv had offered to join Riyadh’s counter-attack as Donald Trump hinted the US ‘may’ get involved.
However, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has turned down Israel’s help due to fears of ‘backlash’ from the Saudi public, according to Haaretz.
The outlet cites a diplomatic source saying prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had wanted to strengthen ties with the kingdom, which is waging war on the Iran-backed Houthis, as US-Israeli attacks continue against Tehran.
After Riyadh, the Saudi capital, suffered several missile attacks from the rebels over the weekend, Mr Trump hinted that Washington could join a possible counter offensive.
The US President last month described the Crown Prince as a ‘good friend’.
In one clip, a soldier is thrown from the back of a pickup truck as it races across the sand at high speed
The battle resembles scenes from the 2015 blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road
Surveillance footage shows the moment the passenger terminal at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was attacked on Saturday
Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks, which killed a total of 14 and left more than 300 injured
A thick black column of smoke and flames could be seen rising from airport buildings
The wreckage of the Saudia Airlines plane at King Khalid International following an attack on Thursday
When asked by reporters over the weekend about the momentum that Houthi fighters were gaining in Yemen, he said: ‘Everything is gonna work out fine and dandy. It’s gonna be very good.’
And when quizzed about US involvement in the conflict, the President said he is ‘going to look at it’.
The Houthis launched several missile strikes on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport, which left dozens killed and hundreds more injured.
The unrelenting attacks on the Saudi capital reportedly forced a terrified Crown Prince into hiding below ground.
Citing officials, the Wall Street Journal reported: ‘The 41-year-old Crown Prince is shuttling between heavily guarded palaces equipped with bunkers and is guarded by a handpicked security team.’
The Crown Prince was last seen in public last Tuesday, when he gave blood in a bid to support a national donation drive.
The ‘Mad Max-style’ scenes come just days after footage showed Saudi-led coalition soldiers mowing down Houthi fighters in armoured trucks.
Last week’s video appeared to show surrendering rebels being struck down as the soldiers inside the vehicles shouted ‘Allahu Akbar.’
