Houthi commander killed in clashes with Yemeni government forces in city of Taiz: official

Aden
A Houthi commander was killed in clashes with Yemeni government forces near Mount Han in the southwestern city of Taiz, a Yemeni official said on Friday.
Fayyad al-Noman, a Yemeni media spokesman, said on US social media platform X that Abdulrahman Mohammed Sufyan Wajih al-Din, also known as Abu al-Karrar, was killed by government troops near Mount Han.
Al-Noman identified the slain Houthi commander as a brigadier general and director of Dhi al-Sufal in the Ibb province.
He did not specify when the incident occurred or provide further details on the circumstances of the killing.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.
Taiz has remained a major front line in Yemen’s conflict, with government forces and the Houthis engaged in repeated clashes around the city.
Saudi-led coalition intercepts drone targeting kingdom’s east
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early on Friday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone heading toward Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, while Houthi-affiliated media reported artillery shelling in Yemen’s northern border province of Saada.
In a brief statement, the coalition announced the interception without identifying who launched the drone or specifying its intended target.
The statement provided no details on casualties or damage.
Separately, the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV channel reported artillery shelling in parts of Al-Dhaher district, which borders Saudi Arabia, in Saada province.
The reports came amid continued military escalation between the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis.
On Thursday, the coalition announced the interception of a cruise missile over the Madinah region in western Saudi Arabia.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree denied that the group had carried out any attacks against Saudi territory that day.
A day earlier, the coalition said it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward the capital Riyadh, where falling debris injured one person and caused minor property damage.
The latest incidents follow a wave of attacks on Saudi airports and energy facilities.
Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government since 2015 against the Houthis, who have controlled Sanaa and several other provinces since 2014.
The current escalation began in July after a period of relative calm following a UN-brokered truce that started in April 2022.
Coalition says Houthis are getting missiles, fast boats
As Saudi Arabia backs government forces, the Houthis have been firing ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi airports, ports and ‌oil installations, turning US ally Saudi Arabia into a pressure point in the wider war and threatening its ambitious economic plans.
On Thursday, the Saudi-led military coalition said the Houthis had attempted to attack dozens of such sites, highlighting the risk to Saudi civilian infrastructure. The governing council of the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation condemned the recent attacks on civilian airports, aircraft, and aviation infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
Coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki told reporters that the Houthis had launched 20 attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month, killing 17 people and wounding 333 ​others. The airport is one of Saudi Arabia’s ​main international aviation hubs.
The coalition said Houthi attacks on Abha airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia near the Yemeni border had killed three people and wounded 28.
Maliki said the Houthis had acquired advanced military technology with the help of “regional actors,” including ballistic missiles, drones and explosive-laden fast boats.
Iran has provided weapons, money and ​training to the Houthis, although Tehran has officially denied arming them in violation of a UN arms embargo.
Maliki also said the ​coalition had destroyed 127 weapons storage facilities and launch platforms in Yemen’s mountainous areas, calling on the Houthis to immediately halt operations targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure.
Shortly afterwards, the Houthi military spokesperson said Saudi airspace and airports were unsafe, renewing a warning to airlines while excluding airspace over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence authority issued early-warning alerts throughout Thursday over potential threats in the ​cities of Najran and Jizan, as well as the wider Najran and Jazan regions, before later saying the ​danger had passed.
The Saudi-led coalition said on Thursday that it had intercepted and destroyed a drone in the southwestern Saudi Arabian city of Khamis Mushait, and another launched towards the country’s southern region.