Cairo: Saudi Arabia's port of Yanbu on the Red Sea and the southwestern city of Taif have been targeted by ballistic missile interception. Saudi military spokesperson confirmed that there were six ballistic missiles.
However, the Houthis, backed by Iran, did not take responsibility. Recently, the Houthis were blamed for attempted attacks on the kingdom, including on Riyadh, the Saudi capital.
The Associated Press said it could not immediately verify the claim by Saudi Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, who is also the spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi rebels. His statement followed alerts by Saudi civil defence authorities, who later noted the danger had passed.
The escalation in fighting near the crucial Red Sea shipping corridor has worried global markets while marking a return to civil war in Yemen.
Also on Tuesday, Yemeni government forces repelled a Houthi attack in the Ash Shamayatayn district in southwest Yemen's Taiz that day, killing 12 Houthi fighters and wounding dozens of others. Four government soldiers were killed and several others wounded in the same fighting, according to a local government official.
For their part, the Houthis said in a statement that their military operations along Yemen's western coast, particularly in Taiz and Hodeidah provinces in the west, had killed or wounded more than 600 government troops in recent days and weeks.
The rugged areas of western Taiz and southern Lahj provinces have emerged as key battlegrounds, as government forces seek to halt further Houthi advances and prevent the group from consolidating control over highlands overlooking the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and a vital route for international shipping.
(With agency inputs from PTI and Reuters)
