Saudi-Houthi Fighting Escalates as Egypt Offers Defence

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted four drones over Riyadh, the Eastern Province and the South on Saturday, while Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Cairo would defend the kingdom if asked. The announcement came as fighting between Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis resumed, amid reports of deadly Saudi airstrikes in Yemen and Houthi attacks on Saudi and government-linked targets.

Drone attacks and Egypt’s offer

Turki al-Malki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, 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 that supports Yemen’s internationally recognised government in its war with the Houthis. Egypt belongs to that coalition, too.

At a graduation ceremony at the Egyptian military academy, al-Sisi said Egypt wasn’t seeking a role in regional conflicts. But he called it “inconceivable” for Cairo to stand by if 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.

Egyptian troops couldn’t deploy without parliamentary approval. Al-Sisi said he hoped lawmakers would meet in an emergency session to authorize a deployment “if it is requested of us.” He added: “I'm not talking about fighting anyone or attacking anyone. We are speaking only about defence.”

The Houthis have repeatedly attacked Saudi targets since Yemen’s conflict flared back to life in July after a years-long hiatus. Targets have included oil installations, energy facilities, tankers and transit hubs. An attack on Riyadh’s airport last week killed 13 people.

Civilian deaths reported in Yemen

Houthi-affiliated media said Saudi airstrikes that began overnight on Saturday killed at least 12 people in Yemen, including three children. The group’s news agency reported that Saudi warplanes struck “civilian homes” in Taiz governorate, killing nine people and wounding 16. People remained trapped under rubble, it said.

The same agency reported overnight strikes in Dhamar province that killed three children and wounded 17 others. It said the strikes used “cluster bombs, which are banned internationally.” The Houthis’ health ministry separately said strikes the previous day hit houses in al-Ar village in Dhamar’s Dawran Aness district, killing one eight-year-old child and two children aged 10, and wounding more than a dozen people. The ministry blamed Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia didn’t immediately comment.

The ministry said the children were among 124 people the Houthis said had been killed in their territories since fighting resumed in September. Houthi bodies and media supplied the figures and accounts.

Authorities said two missiles landed on Friday within the perimeter of the airport in Aden, interim capital of the Saudi-backed government. The Houthis claimed responsibility. A statement attributed to a Houthi military source said the attack targeted “the Saudi forces' command headquarters in the Badr camp in Aden province” and a weapons depot.

Maritime incidents and calls for talks

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 reported that 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.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran supported a political process to resolve the conflict between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis. “We support an inclusive and comprehensive political process as the only practical and sustainable way to resolve the issue,” he said at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Baghdad.