Symbolic imageSaudi air defences intercept more Houthi missiles as Yemen fighting widens
The Saudi-led coalition said its air defences destroyed three Houthi cruise missiles fired toward Riyadh on Wednesday. Yemeni government forces and the Houthis both claim heavy losses on the ground.
The interception was the second in two days. On Tuesday the coalition said it had downed a ballistic and a cruise missile aimed at Riyadh, and Al Jazeera reports it also stopped a missile aimed at the south. Politika, citing Tanjug, adds that a Houthi attack on Sunday damaged an Aramco administrative building in Riyadh and that an attack on King Khalid airport last month killed 13 people. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group also targeted Riyadh and an Aramco facility in Abqaiq.
Rival claims of heavy losses
Government spokesman Majed Abdullah al-Nuzaili said on Tuesday that forces killed or wounded about 190 Houthi fighters in air, drone, rocket and artillery attacks. Saree said the Houthis killed many government-aligned fighters in Lahij and al-Jawf, and that 109 Saudi-backed air strikes and missile attacks hit Sanaa and other areas. The WHO counts at least 1,771 dead since August.
Gulf states plan forward command
GCC defence ministers agreed on Tuesday to set up a forward military command in Kuwait, Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi announced, according to Arab News as cited by the Jerusalem Post.
Blockade claims disputed
The US Embassy says 272 commercial ships unloaded at Houthi-held ports between January and September, which it says refutes Houthi blockade claims. Yemeni journalist Hussain Albukhaiti, describing the Houthi authorities' view, says inspections delay ships for up to four months.