Saudi Airstrikes, Egypt's War Pledge, Yemen's Dead

Saudi airstrikes killed at least 12 people in Yemen, including three children, according to Houthi-affiliated media. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted four drones, while Egypt’s president offered military assistance if the kingdom asks. The competing official accounts arrive as civilians remain caught beneath the machinery of war.

The State's Military Response

Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Iran-backed group, wrote on X: “We have intercepted and destroyed four drones over the past few hours in the regions of Riyadh, the Eastern Province, and the South.” Saudi Arabia leads a military coalition supporting Yemen’s internationally recognised government in its war with the Houthis. Egypt is also a coalition member.

At a graduation ceremony at the Egyptian military academy, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Egypt wasn’t looking to take a role in regional conflicts. But he called it “inconceivable” for Cairo to stand by while Saudi Arabia was “harmed or its security and stability threatened.” He said Egypt, “with the directives of His Majesty King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman,” would take any measure to protect or defend the kingdom.

Any deployment would require parliamentary approval. Al-Sisi said he hoped lawmakers would convene in an emergency session to authorize it “if it is requested of us.” He added: “I'm not talking about fighting anyone or attacking anyone. We are speaking only about defence.” Defence, interceptions and strikes all come through official command and military force.

Civilians Beneath the Claims

Houthi-affiliated media said Saudi warplanes struck “civilian homes” in Taiz governorate, killing nine people and wounding 16, with people still trapped under rubble. The same news agency reported strikes in Dhamar province that killed three children and wounded 17 others, and said the strikes used “cluster bombs, which are banned internationally.” Those accounts come from the group’s media; Saudi Arabia didn’t immediately comment on a separate reported strike in Dhamar.

The Houthis’ health ministry said strikes the previous day hit houses in al-Ar village in the Dawran Aness district of Dhamar. The ministry said the attacks killed one child aged eight and two children aged 10, and wounded more than a dozen people. It blamed Saudi Arabia. The ministry said the children were among 124 people the Houthis said had been killed in their territories since fighting resumed in September.

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi targets since Yemen’s conflict flared back to life in July after a years-long hiatus. Those targets included oil installations, energy facilities, tankers and transit hubs. One attack on Riyadh’s airport last week killed 13 people. In Aden, authorities said two missiles landed on Friday within the airport’s perimeter. The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying the attack targeted “the Saudi forces' command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province” and a weapons depot.

War Beyond the Front Line

Maritime reports show the conflict reaching shipping lanes. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said it received a report of an incident 140 nautical miles (259 km) southeast of Yemen’s Al Mukalla. The captain of an LNG tanker said a small skiff carrying seven people approached and fired two shots. The tanker’s armed security team fired two warning shots, and the skiff changed course.

UKMTO also said an “unknown projectile” hit a tanker on Friday, 68 nautical miles off Jubail on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast, forcing its crew to evacuate. “All crew are reported safe,” the agency said. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said an oil tanker carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil caught fire after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz. The Guards called it a supertanker “in violation of regulations” attempting to pass illegally; Iranian media said it was using a route unauthorized by Iran.

Tehran seized control over Hormuz after the war began in late February, the report said, choking off a strait that normally carries about one-fifth of global oil consumption. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran supports an “inclusive and comprehensive political process” as the “only practical and sustainable way” to resolve the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia also executed five Saudi nationals convicted of “terrorism-related offences,” including joining a foreign organisation designated as terrorist, attacking security forces and supporting attacks inside the kingdom, according to the interior ministry. Governments call their own force defence, security or order. The report records civilian deaths, missile attacks and executions: 12 people killed in the Saudi airstrikes, 13 killed in the Riyadh airport attack last week, and five nationals executed.