Saudi-backed Yemen Government soldiers ride in a pickup truck near the Jabal Han front, west of the city of Taiz (Ahmad Al-Basha/AFP/Getty)
UPDATES: US War on Iran, Day 221 — Trump Camp Sending 3rd Aircraft Carrier
UPDATE 0523 GMT:
Oman’s Air Force evacuated 10 crew members of a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker following an attack in the Strait of Hormuz.
The tanker On Peace was struck 9 nautical miles off the Omani port city of Limah on Tuesday, setting a fire.
The crew were transported to the Khasab hospital in Musandam Province and received medical treatment.
UPDATE, OCT 7:
The spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthis says, “A ballistic missile launched by the terrorist Houthi militia north of Riyadh was intercepted and destroyed.”
The coalition earlier said it intercepted and destroyed a Houthi ballistic missile launched towards Khamis Mushait in southern Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis fired two missiles and several drones on the Aden International Airport in southern Yemen. No casualties were reported.
A civilian flight from Cairo diverted to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.
UPDATE 1431 GMT:
US Central Command says Iranian State media claims of a US Navy helicopter crash in the Red Sea on Monday are “false reports”: “Military aircraft and personnel across the Middle East are safe and accounted for”.
UPDATE 0916 GMT:
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Airport in Jazan and Najran Airport were struck in two Houthi attacks on Monday evening, injuring three people, confirms the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority.
The authority said it is assessing damage and taking all necessary measures “to ensure the safety of passengers and airport personnel and maintain the security and safety of the Kingdom’s civil aviation system”.
UPDATE 0733 GMT:
The US military has abruptly withdrawn all 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from the RAF Fairford base in southern England because of a potential drone attack by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, say US and British officials.
The officials said the suspected attack sought to strike aircraft and kill some of the several hundred American personnel stationed at the base. They believed it was loosely modeled on Ukraine’s “Spider’s Web” operation inside Russia in 2025, in which drones smuggled in trucks destroyed or damaged 13 warplanes.
On September 27 UK police arrested five men travelling in three white vans near the base. All were released on bail a day later after the authorities did not discover explosives.
A UK-Iranian dual national was arrested on Thursday on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.
The withdrawal order for the bombers was so urgent that some left as aerial refueling aircraft, to support their flights to the US, were being prepared.
UPDATE 0632 GMT:
Israeli forces shelled the outskirts of the towns of Haddatha and Baraachit in southern Lebanon.
The Israelis opened machinegun fire at dawn towards the town of Buyout al-Sayyad and the outskirts of al-Mansouri. An Israeli drone dropped a sound bomb on a house near the town of Haris.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Saudi-led forces of Yemen’s Government have launched a counter-offensive against Iran-backed Houthis.
The Houthis have controlled much of the country since 2014. Last month, they captured the Red Sea coast, taking control of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait on the southern side of the Arabian Peninsula.
Yemeni Government officials claimed on Monday that the Saudi-led forces have retaken several key areas around the Strait, including the strategic town of Dhubab just north of the waterway; Bab; and Hadeid. Witnesses said Government tanks and forces entered the towns.
The counter-offensive was launched early Monday, with the Saudis providing air cover, aiming not only to regain recently-lost territory but to take other areas.
The spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition, Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki, said 100 fighter jets were carrying out operations. He claimed they secured “air protection” of the Strait and destroyed hundreds of Houthi targets.
However, the Houthis said they advanced in southwest Yemen, taking the key town of Turbah and advancing toward Taiz, the country’s third-largest city.
The Houthis cut a vital supply route linking Taiz with the Government’s interim capital Aden, said four security sources.
Sources from both sides said on Sunday that fighting in and around Taiz Province had killed more than 70 people within 24 hours.
