Saudi-Led Coalition Intercepts Missile as Fighting Rages in Yemen's Al-Jawf

Photo: Reuters (file)

Saudi air defences shot down a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at the kingdom's southern region on Monday, as Yemeni government forces pressed a fierce campaign to retake ground in the northern governorate of al-Jawf. A drone was also destroyed on Sunday evening, and Saudi civil defence alerts in four southern areas were issued and then lifted.

The missile claim came from the coalition itself. Al Jazeera reported that coalition spokesman Major General Turki al-Maliki said defences "intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile" targeting Saudi Arabia's south. The Express Tribune, carrying Anadolu Agency, confirmed the same announcement on Monday.

On the same day, Saudi civil defence issued warnings of "potential danger" in Abha, Khamis Mushait, Taif and Najran, then lifted them. Residents were warned not to film or share anything about missile and drone attacks, a reminder of how tense the border region has become.

Inside Yemen, the fighting is heaviest in al-Jawf. Government forces say they carried out 1,272 targeting operations against Houthi fighters, defences and weapons stores in 24 hours, and claim about 500 Houthi fighters were killed and nearly 170 vehicles and heavy weapons destroyed or disabled. Those are the army's own figures, and Al Jazeera notes it could not check them on its own.

The other side of the war showed up in Hodeidah, on the Red Sea coast. Houthi-linked media said seven people were wounded in coalition air strikes there, four at the Ras Isa port dock and three at an oil company site in Bajil district. The coalition has not commented on those reports.

For ordinary Yemenis, the war keeps cutting into daily life. In Taiz, the country's third largest city, the Houthis have blocked food, fuel and medical supplies since early October. The governor says 120 health centres have stopped working and 66 more are close to shutting, while at least 23 supply trucks were damaged or overturned in the past two weeks trying other routes.

This is the same wider fight this blog has followed closely, from Sudan taking Ethiopia to the UN over drone attacks from its soil to the Iran team leaving Doha as a draft US deal circulates and the Houthi claim of six attacks on Saudi airports and oil sites. Full-scale fighting flared again in September, when the Houthis tightened their grip on the Red Sea coast, and the government answered last month with Operation Dawn of Yemen.

The key figures in the latest fighting:

• 1,272 targeting operations claimed by government forces in 24 hours
• About 500 Houthi fighters claimed killed, nearly 170 vehicles and weapons destroyed or disabled
• 7 people wounded in Hodeidah strikes, according to Houthi-linked media
• 120 health centres shut in besieged Taiz, 66 more close to shutting
• 4 Saudi southern areas under brief civil defence alerts on Monday, then cleared

Sources

• Al Jazeera, Saudi-led coalition intercepts a missile as fighting rages in Yemen's al-Jawf
• The Express Tribune (Anadolu), Saudi-led coalition says it intercepted Houthi ballistic missile targeting southern region

What happens next is whether the government push in al-Jawf keeps its pace, and whether either side answers the other's latest claims.

#Yemen #Houthi #SaudiArabia #AlJawf #MiddleEast #BreakingNews