Yemen's air force carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets earlier on Friday, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis denied targeting a power plant supplying energy to a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday (2 October) that he would not authorise an export ban on diesel, hours after G7 countries agreed to release diesel and crude oil from their emergency reserves.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said on Friday that it had intercepted and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched towards the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait.
The Yemeni army said on Friday that it carried out 474 operations against Houthi targets across several fronts over the past 24 hours, claiming 1,540 Houthi fighters were killed or wounded.
The military said the operations targeted Houthi positions, reinforcements and command centres, with a particular focus on Taiz amid intensified fighting.
At least two civilians, including a 14-day-old infant, were killed and seven others injured Friday in separate shelling incidents blamed on Yemen’s Houthi group in Taiz province.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said a woman and the infant were killed in shelling in Al-Turbah and Al-Dhabab. Six others were injured when residential areas in central Taiz were shelled, according to local sources cited by Saba news agency.
The deaths come amid intensified fighting across Taiz, with the Yemeni army reporting 20 airstrikes on Houthi positions and clashes on several fronts.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II stressed the need for a comprehensive regional de-escalation agreement during a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday, according to the Royal Hashemite Court.
Abdullah said any agreement should safeguard the security and sovereignty of Arab states and highlighted the U.S. role in supporting regional stability.
The two also discussed Israeli escalation in southern Syria, with Abdullah reiterating Jordan’s support for Syria’s security, stability and territorial sovereignty. They also discussed the outcome of the latest Aqaba Process meeting in France, which focused on supporting the Lebanese army.
A tanker was struck by an unknown projectile while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations. The incident caused a small fire and a blackout, but no casualties or environmental impact were reported. The fire was extinguished and the vessel is underway as authorities investigate.
G7 leaders on Friday agreed to immediately begin a coordinated release of 100 million barrels from emergency oil reserves over four months, as global energy prices and market volatility rise.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that European countries had agreed to release a “massive amount” of diesel stocks, as governments seek to ease pressure on fuel supplies and prices.
Türkiye's Head of Communications Burhanettin Duran on Friday condemned a Houthi attack targeting civilian infrastructure serving the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli officials are expected to question the co-pilot of a Flydubai flight who allegedly attempted to crash the plane while it was travelling to Tel Aviv, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Armed groups opened fire on security posts and homes in the Mazraa area of western Suwayda province in southern Syria on Friday, according to Alikhbariah TV.
EU ambassadors will meet on Friday to discuss the global energy situation amid tight diesel supplies and high prices, the Irish Presidency of the EU said.
Pakistan's foreign minister said it won't be possible to entertain new requests to join the Makkah defence pact until it is fully operational, a process that could take up to a year, Reuters reported.
More than six countries are keen to join the pact, the foreign minister said.
Pakistan's foreign minister said a meeting in Riyadh next week will focus on Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported.
In a second alert, Reuters said a meeting of the Strategic Political Defence Committee under the Makkah Accord will be held in Riyadh soon.
The alerts did not say whether the two meetings are the same event.
Pakistan has strongly condemned an attack blamed on Yemen’s Houthis on a power distribution station in Saudi Arabia’s Medina, calling it a “grave provocation” and a threat to regional peace and security.
Yemen’s army said Friday that its air defences shot down Houthi drones over the interim capital Aden as government forces targeted Houthi positions in Sanaa, Saada and Taiz.
Army spokesman Majed al-Nuzaili said the drones were intercepted before reaching civilian areas. He also said government forces struck high-value targets in Sanaa and 11 targets in Saada province.
In Taiz, the army said its air force carried out 20 strikes over three hours against Houthi movements, fighters, vehicles and military equipment. The Taiz Military Axis said intense clashes were also underway on the northern front of the city.
Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salem Abdullah al-Khawlani, chief of staff of Yemen’s Interior Ministry Emergency Forces, was killed in clashes with Houthi fighters in the southwestern province of Taiz, the ministry said Friday.
The ministry said al-Khawlani was killed while fighting Houthis on the Al-Kadaha front. His death marks the highest-ranking security official reported killed by the Yemeni government since the latest military escalation began in July.
Fighting has intensified across several fronts in Taiz in recent days, including Al-Kadaha, Jabal Habashi, Maqbanah and Al-Misrakh, with government forces also reporting airstrikes on Houthi positions.
Yemen's Houthis have denied attacking a power plant supplying energy to a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh claimed the Medina attack was part of what it described as repeated Houthi attempts to target two holy mosques in the city.
A Houthi military source, quoted by the Houthi-run Saba news agency, denied the claim and said it was intended to cover up what he described as Saudi Arabia's failure to substantiate an earlier accusation that the Houthis had targeted the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
Pakistan has criticised an attack by the Iran-backed Houthis on a power plant supplying electricity to the Al Masjid-e-Nabawi mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
“We call for an immediate and unconditional end of such reckless actions that also constitute a grave threat to regional peace and security,” Islamabad's Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on X.
Yemen's air force has carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets over the last few hours, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said on X.
“The air strikes achieved direct hits on the enemy targets, inflicting losses on the militia's elements, equipment, and military movements,” a translation of his statement from Arabic to English read.
The U.S. is sending at least another 9,000 troops to the Middle East, as President Donald Trump mulls renewing strikes on Iran after November's midterm elections, the Wall Street Journal reports citing American officials.
A third aircraft carrier support group and an extra Marine expeditionary unit will be dispatched to the region as part of the plans, according to the report.
Follow for the latest updates from the Middle East conflict.
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Yemen’s Houthis have claimed responsibility for the recent drone and missile strikes on Saudi Aramco facilities in Dhahran and Riyadh and at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, vowing to carry out more attacks in the coming days.
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Ukraine's soldiers have had their access to Starlink satellite internet restricted. Kyiv's troops use the terminals, made by Elon Musk's SpaceX, to pilot drones. A source in Ukraine's Defence Ministry said the restrictions would make it harder for Kyiv's army to down Russian drones.
Ukraine is set to restart attacks on Russian oil refineries following a two-day pause, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, amid growing tensions with Washington over energy strikes and U.S. military support.
Kenya has confirmed a second case of Ebola, intensifying efforts to prevent the spread of the virus after the country recorded its first-ever infection earlier this month.
The U.S. has banned government employees working in Saudi Arabia from using airports in the country without special authorisation. It comes after a deadly Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport killed at least 13 people last week.
The Saudi-led coalition said early Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province.
Türkiye says talks with Washington are continuing over six F-35 fighter jets it purchased but never received, as Ankara pushes for the lifting of U.S. sanctions on its defence industry.
Uzbekistan's freight volumes along the Middle Corridor have doubled in five years, highlighting the growing importance of Azerbaijan and the Port of Baku as key links in its trade routes to Europe.
Kazakhstan is considering new rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms, including requirements to label AI-generated content. The proposal was discussed at the tenth Astana Media Week, which also focused on digital threats and children's online safety.
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