Yemeni army personnel. PHOTO: FILE
Yemen’s army said on Friday that 30 Houthi fighters were killed and more than 60 others were wounded in 24 hours of clashes and airstrikes in the Al-Waziyah district west of Taiz.
A military source quoted by the Armed Forces Media Centre said Yemeni warplanes also struck Houthi vehicles and gathering points in the clash zone.
The army said earlier that its air force hit Houthi supply lines and deployment points in Taiz and in the Red Sea city of Mocha.
Government forces also said they previously repelled Houthi attacks in Taiz and struck the group’s positions and reinforcements. The army has stepped up strikes on Houthi sites in several provinces in recent days, with Taiz among the main fronts.
Italy ready to escort ships through Bab el-Mandeb without waiting for EU, says defence chief
Italy is prepared to act independently to ensure its merchant vessels can pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait rather than wait for an EU naval mission, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday.
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Crosetto said he had instructed military officials to assess the security situation and prepare a plan to guarantee safe passage through the strategic Red Sea waterway, according to Italian news agency ANSA.
“Together with the chief of General Staff, we have decided not to wait for (EU Red Sea Operation) Aspides to decide whether ships can pass or not,” he said at the Risorsa Mare Forum in La Spezia, a northern coastal city.
Crosetto said Italy would likely take steps allowing its ships to resume transit without waiting for European procedures, arguing that delays would further hurt the economy.
The Italian frigate Bergamini is currently in the African nation of Djibouti, while around a dozen Italian-flagged or Italian-owned merchant vessels are seeking escorted passage, ANSA reported.
Crosetto said authorities are also examining whether existing rules allow Italian military assets already deployed in the region to be temporarily placed under national command or whether fresh parliamentary authorisation would be required.
“When a sea route is interrupted, goods arrive late, costs increase, and prices for families and businesses mount,” he said.
Iran says it struck Togo-flagged tanker in Strait of Hormuz
Iran said on Thursday it struck a Togo-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessel attempted what it called an “illegal passage.”
In a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said the ship had been “incited and deceived” by the US military and then hit as it sought to cross the waterway overnight.
“Last night the offending tanker Trend, flying the flag of Togo, intended to pass illegally through the Strait of Hormuz after being incited and deceived by the child-killing American army,” the statement said. “It was struck and stopped after a fire broke out.”
The IRGC Navy said its sailors still held the strategic channel and would block any force it described as an aggressor.
It repeated a warning to shipowners and crews. “Illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz will achieve nothing other than the destruction of the offending vessel,” the navy said.
There was no immediate independent verification of the reported strike, the fire, or the tanker’s status. The statement did not provide information about the cargo, the crew, possible injuries, or whether the vessel was still afloat. US military officials did not immediately comment on the latest claim.
Saudis and Houthis exchange strikes, Yemenis flee by boat as Middle East war spreads
Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday, and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting, as the spreading Middle East war created new threats to global oil supplies.
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Houthi-controlled television reported Saudi airstrikes in Hajjah province close to the Saudi border near the Red Sea coast, and in the vicinity of Taiz further inland to the south.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence said a Yemeni living in Saudi Arabia had been killed by debris from a drone intercepted over the western city of Taif, the first death Riyadh has announced in Houthi attacks since fighting escalated last week. It has previously said more than 80 people were wounded.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker caught fire after being hit while attempting what it called an ‘illegal passage’ through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media reported. The tanker came to a halt after the fire, the Guards Navy said.
The spread of the war to Yemen and Saudi Arabia has raised new concerns about oil supplies by jeopardising the main alternative Red Sea route for Gulf exports while traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains constrained.
US President Donald Trump has rebuffed pleas from the Saudis for military support to fight the Houthis, who agreed a ceasefire with the United States last year after Washington bombed the group for two months.
The president faces the prospect of political losses for his Republican Party in November’s midterm elections, partly because of higher energy prices since the United States and Israel attacked Iran in February.
Trump said on Thursday he is approaching a critical juncture over whether to restart massive attacks on Iran.
“I have a big decision coming up. Do I want to go in and annihilate them or do I not? It’s a big decision. Anything could happen with me,” Trump said in an interview with Axios.
Trump has in the past threatened major new attacks that have not materialised.
Global crude prices eased slightly on Thursday but remain well above $100 a barrel after reaching their highest levels since May. The average US retail diesel price hit a record high on Thursday, just shy of $6.40 a gallon.
The United States and Iran have held no negotiations to end the war since an interim agreement reached in June collapsed within weeks. But the war will come up for discussion at the United Nations General Assembly next week, and an Iranian delegation will be able to attend, according to the US State Department.
‘The sea was frightening’
The fighting has driven Yemeni civilians to flee across the Bab el-Mandeb — Arabic for “Gate of Tears” — the narrow strait at the mouth of the Red Sea.
In Djibouti on the African shore of the Red Sea, Wahida Omer, 50, reached land after crossing on a small boat from Yemen when her village of Dhubab came under attack as the Houthis swept into the area. Her husband had been left behind, and she had no idea if he was alive, dead or captured by the Houthis.
“The sea was frightening, difficult,” she said in an interview filmed by the International Organisation for Migration. Those on the boat were “crying the whole way, and we arrived still crying” with nothing to eat.
The IOM says more than 100,000 Yemenis have been displaced by the latest fighting, mostly within Yemen.
The Houthis, who have seized Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast since last week in a lightning advance, say the Saudi Air Force has conducted hundreds of airstrikes in recent days. On Wednesday, the Houthis said they had shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet.
“We want the Saudis to cease their blockade and occupation of our country, and to stop their aggression against us. This is our demand!” Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech, seated with a traditional dagger in his belt. Slogans on the wall behind him read: “Death to America, death to Israel, a curse upon the Jews, victory for Islam.”
The US Navy is trying to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the outlet to the Gulf along Iran’s coast, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war, and is also imposing a blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran says the strait is closed and will remain shut until Washington lifts the blockade. It is seeking an agreement with neighbouring Gulf states that would let it collect fees from ships passing through the strait.
