The Saudi-led coalition announced that strikes had destroyed several ballistic missile launchers in Yemen’s eastern Al Bayda province late on Thursday, as it ramps up military operations against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.
The raids came as the UN Special Envoy for Yemen warned that a recent sharp rise in fighting following the start of the major Houthi offensives in recent months was seriously jeopardising the possibility of peace talks.
Overnight operations on Al Bayda were also accompanied by targeted air strikes that destroyed the Houthis’ capabilities at Hodeidah port on the Red Sea.
The coalition has called on civilians in the capital Sanaa to stay away from Houthi military camps and gatherings as it carries out targeted strikes in the coming days and weeks.
It said the military operations were a “response to the threats of hostile attacks”.
The coalition fighting the Yemeni Houthi rebels said the port of Hodeidah has been used by Iran to smuggle in weapons to the Houthis.
“The Houthis took advantage of the Stockholm Agreement — which was signed at the end of 2018 between the government and the Houthi militia under the auspices of the United Nations — as an umbrella for protection and a threat to the freedom of maritime navigation,” the coalition said in a statement on Thursday.
It follows a request from the UN to inspect sites at Hodeidah port as it feared the vital aid and goods terminal was being used to store and transport weapons.
Sanaa, held by Iran-aligned Houthi forces since 2014, had since 2020 enjoyed relative calm as fighting flared elsewhere in Yemen.
But in September the coalition resumed attacks on military sites belonging to the Houthis after they ramped up cross-border missile and drone launches on Saudi cities and on Monday struck the UAE.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from Sanaa. The Houthis say they are fighting foreign aggression.
The UN has urged de-escalation in the nearly seven-year-old conflict in which more than 100,000 people have been killed and 4 million displaced, in a war marked by coalition air strikes as well as Houthi shelling and missiles.
UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg concluded a visit to Riyadh on Thursday after meeting with Saudi Vice Minister of Defence Prince Khalid bin Salman and Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmed Bin Mubarak.
Mr Grundberg expressed “grave concern” about the impact of the recent military escalation on the prospects of peace in Yemen and the heavy toll it has taken on civilian lives and livelihoods.
“Air strikes, missiles and drones, are continuing to claim civilian lives and damage civilian infrastructure, both in Yemen and in neighbouring countries. This is disrupting the prospects of a comprehensive political solution and exacerbating the humanitarian suffering in Yemen,” Mr Grundberg said.
Company%20profile
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
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Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
Company Profile
Company name: OneOrder
Started: October 2021
Founders: Tamer Amer and Karim Maurice
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, logistics
Investors: A15 and self-funded
New Zealand squad
Tim Southee (capt), Trent Boult (games 4 and 5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
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A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed