DUBAI: The Arab Coalition intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Khamis Mushait, state news agency SPA reported.

Spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki said Thursday’s attack by the Houthis was another instance that constituted war crimes.
Meanwhile, Yemeni Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s support for the Houthis further confirmed the extremist nature of the two groups.

Mubarak stressed the need to pressure the Iranian regime to stop interfering in Yemen’s internal affairs during a video conference call with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ireland Simon Coveney.

He also warned of the ongoing danger posed by the stricken Safer oil tanker which has been held by the houthis, and the environmental, humanitarian and economic threat to Yemen and the region.

The Yemeni foreign minister also called for an end to the militia’s manipulation of this issue and not allowing the United Nations’ technical team to access it, assess its condition and empty it.

And Coveney reiterated his country’s keenness on the security, stability and unity of Yemen and the readiness to contribute to achieving a political settlement.

Dozens of Houthis and government troops, meanwhile, were killed in fierce clashes in Marib with local officials and NGOs warning that the fighting will have a major impact on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

The current uptick in fighting began earlier this month when the Iran-backed Houthis resumed a major offensive to seize control of the oil and gas-rich city of Marib, the Yemen government’s last major stronghold in the northern half of the country.

Along with the Marib fighting, envoy Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council by video conference that there have been “worrying spikes of violence and hostilities” in the provinces of Hodeidah, where a key port is located, and the government-held Taiz.