RIYADH: The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis said on Tuesday that it had shot down three missiles and four drones fired by the group toward the Kingdom’s eastern and southern regions.
“Air defences intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the Eastern Province,” coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki wrote on X.
The Saudi-led coalition earlier said that four drones launched by Houthis towards Saudi Arabia’s southern region have been intercepted and destroyed.
Reports said that the fight for Yemen’s third-largest city Taiz, is entering a “make or break” stage, according to Al Jazeera.
“The battle for Jabal Sabr is pretty much make or break in order to capture Taiz,” analysts said, referring to a strategic mountain nearby, adding that the fight is, “partially about symbolism but more than anything it’s about simple geography. It’s crucial for maintaining control over the city.”
Explosions have been heard in Yemen’s Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa and along the Red Sea coast.
Residents in western Sanaa report at least four explosions, but what has been hit remains unclear.
A woman, reportedly living near a Houthi base, says a loud blast shattered windows in her home and nearby houses.
In the port city of Mokha, recently seized by the Houthis, a resident claims a rocket struck a four-storey residential building, and that at least 10 other houses and a hospital have been damaged.
Ship on fire off coast of Iraq
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre (UKMTO) has reported that a vessel is on fire off the coast of Iraq, without specifying the cause of the incident or the status of the crew.
“UKMTO has received multiple third-party reports of a vessel on fire, 63 nautical miles southeast of Al-Faw, Iraq,” it says. “Crew status, damage assessment, and environmental impact are unknown at time of report.”
Al-Faw is a port town that sits on the Gulf, neighbouring Kuwait and Iran.
Meanwhile, Major General Ali Abdollahi, the Chief of Staff of Iran’s armed forces, says Tehran controls the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports citing Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s army and naval forces “have complete control and oversight of the coasts of the Persian Gulf, the islands, and the Strait of Hormuz”, Abdollahi says, contrary to “propaganda” by US leaders.
“This strategic waterway is completely closed”, he adds, noting that no vessel is allowed to transit this strategic waterway “outside of Iranian regulations”.
