United News of Bangladesh

Saudi Arabia said three people were injured after two airports in the kingdom were hit amid renewed fighting with Yemen’s Houthi rebels, while clashes continued in Yemen. Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation said the airports in Najran and Jizan were hit Monday, causing damage to both facilities and leaving three people lightly injured. The authority did not identify those responsible, but the attacks came after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis announced that they had launched missiles and drones toward Saudi Arabia. Houthi Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said Tuesday that the group had also launched attacks toward a third airport. The Associated Press could not independently confirm whether Abha International Airport was hit, while Saudi authorities did not immediately comment. The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said Tuesday that it intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward Khamis Mushait, a southwestern Saudi city that hosts a major Saudi military base. Meanwhile, fighting continued around Dhubab, a strategic town in Yemen that the internationally recognized government had previously said it had recaptured, a senior Yemeni military official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Saudi Arabia and its allies in Yemen’s government have launched a military campaign to retake Houthi-controlled territory near the southern end of the Red Sea, seeking to prevent disruptions to oil exports from the region.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized more territory in southwestern Yemen, capturing a key town and dealing a setback to Saudi-backed government forces as they advance toward Taiz, a strategically important provincial capital. The Houthis took control of Turbah on Sunday, shortly before Yemen’s internationally recognized government announced a major military campaign against the rebels. The escalation involving Saudi Arabia and the Houthis has reignited Yemen’s civil war following a four-year ceasefire. Turbah lies along a major route connecting Taiz with the port city of Aden, the temporary headquarters of the internationally recognized government. The town has long served as an important position for government forces defending Taiz against Houthi attacks. The rebels had earlier captured several villages and areas around Taiz, further advancing their efforts to surround the city, Yemen’s third-largest. The Iranian-backed group also made rapid gains along Yemen’s western Red Sea coast in early September, capturing the strategic port city of Mokha and several islands. Those advances gave the Houthis control over the Yemeni side of the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major global shipping route through which about 12 percent of world trade passes. In an announcement Sunday, the Saudi-backed government said it was deploying additional forces across areas under its control. Rashad al-Alimi, chairman of the Presidential Leadership Council, said in a televised address that the military campaign was aimed at "recovering the remaining territories" held by the Houthis. He urged the international community to support the Yemeni government. Several hours later, Saudi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Turki al-Malki pledged "full operational support" for Yemeni government forces until the Houthis were "eliminated." Al-Malki also said Saudi Arabia had the right to take necessary steps to deter the rebels, who have continued launching missiles and drones toward Saudi territory during the nearly three-month escalation. The latest surge in violence began in mid-July when the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of carrying out an airstrike on Sanaa airport, which is under rebel control, to prevent an unauthorized Iranian aircraft from landing there. The Houthis subsequently launched missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and Yemeni government forces. The rebels also declared a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping in the Red Sea and attacked several vessels associated with Saudi Arabia. In September, they expanded their offensive along the Red Sea coast in what represented their biggest territorial advance in years. The capture of Turbah is likely to seriously hamper the ability of government-aligned forces to reinforce and supply front-line positions across Taiz province and the provincial capital, according to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War. The think tank said in an analysis Sunday that cutting supply routes has clear military significance, while control of roads north of Turbah could also prevent government forces from withdrawing from the area. The latest escalation has brought back the civil war that began in 2014, when the Houthis moved south from their northern stronghold, seized Sanaa and forced the government to flee to Saudi Arabia. The conflict triggered one of the world's worst humanitarian crises and has killed more than 150,000 people. The latest violence has killed more than 800 people and injured over 3,600, according to the United Nations. The escalation has also displaced more than 145,000 people within Yemen, while over 3,000 others have crossed the sea to Djibouti, the UN migration agency said.

Israeli troops shot dead a person suspected of attempting to infiltrate an Israeli military position in southern Syria, the Israeli military said Monday. The incident took place in an area inside Syrian territory that Israel refers to as its "security zone," according to the military. No Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident. The military did not disclose the identity of the person or say whether the individual was carrying a weapon. Israel deployed troops into southern Syria after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, taking up positions both inside and outside a UN-monitored buffer zone. The United Nations has called on Israel to withdraw its forces.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has arrested 31 people belonging to four “US-Israeli-backed” networks accused of plotting acts of sabotage and stirring unrest in southern Kerman province, according to state-run media. The ministry said the suspects in Sirjan county were organized into networks specifically to lure teenagers and young people. It added that the groups had prepared large quantities of Molotov cocktails to destroy urban surveillance cameras in preparation for street unrest and sabotage. Iranian authorities also accused the networks of participating in violence and destruction during nationwide protests in January. The January demonstrations-which originally erupted over economic hardship before expanding into nationwide protests calling for an end to clerical rule-resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, including protesters and security forces. With inputs from Al Jazeera

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed to have launched a combined ballistic missile and drone attack on a major Saudi Aramco oil refinery near Riyadh on Saturday, causing fires at the facility. Footage from the scene showed flames and thick plumes of smoke rising from the refinery as firefighters worked to contain the blaze. Neither Saudi authorities nor Aramco have issued an official statement regarding the cause of the fire. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree stated on X (formerly Twitter) that the strike was carried out in retaliation for approximately 60 Saudi air raids launched over the past 24 hours against Houthi-controlled territories, including the capital, Sanaa. Meanwhile, forces aligned with Yemen's internationally recognized government announced a massive military offensive against Houthi positions. Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, spokesman for the Yemeni military, confirmed on X that government forces executed 97 "precision operations" across the Al-Tawwahi front in Taiz province and the Al-Baha district in Lahij province. Utilizing aircraft, drones, artillery, missiles, and snipers, the operations neutralized at least 260 Houthi fighters and destroyed numerous military and supply vehicles. The announcement followed earlier strikes by government-aligned forces targeting Houthi strongholds across Sanaa, Midi, Baqim, al-Jawf, Marib, Al Bayda, Lahij, and Taiz. Military officials claimed those combined air, artillery, and missile attacks resulted in more than 700 Houthi casualties. The battlefield claims could not be independently verified. Source: Al Jazeera

Israeli settlers have burnt down olive trees on Palestinian farmland in the West Bank village of Abu Dis, while Israeli forces fired gas bombs at Palestinians and journalists in Osarin, according to reports on Saturday. Dozens of Israeli settlers raided Osarin village, located south of Nablus, attacking residential homes, hurling stones at vehicles, and assaulting several local residents, the Palestinian media reported. Several Palestinians sustained injuries during the raid. Among the casualties, a 50-year-old Palestinian man was brutally beaten by settlers, suffering multiple injuries before being transferred to a hospital for treatment, the media added. During the confrontations in Osarin, Israeli security forces fired gas bombs toward local Palestinians and journalists present at the scene. In a separate incident in the occupied West Bank, settlers set fire to olive trees on Palestinian-owned lands in the village of Abu Dis, according to ground reports. With inputs from Al Jazeera

More than 70 people have reportedly died during 24 hours of intense clashes between Yemen’s Houthi movement and government forces in the southwestern province of Taiz, according to military and medical sources. Both sides have also exchanged claims over air and missile attacks. A Yemeni government military official, speaking anonymously, said more than 20 government troops and around 10 allied local fighters were killed, while dozens more were injured. The official said heavy fighting took place on several fronts as the two sides battled for strategic positions. The heaviest clashes reportedly occurred in rural areas extending toward Yemen’s Red Sea coastline. Government forces were attempting to stop Houthi advances and prevent the group from strengthening its position near the strategically important Bab al-Mandab Strait. In Aden, government forces said their air-defense systems intercepted several Houthi drones approaching important facilities and public-service locations. Government military spokesperson Majid al-Nuzaili claimed that government forces had conducted 474 airstrikes and other military operations against Houthi positions. He said the operations had killed or wounded about 1,540 Houthi fighters and damaged or destroyed 216 pieces of military equipment. A medical source linked to the Houthis, also speaking anonymously, reported that more than 40 Houthi fighters had been killed and dozens wounded during the same period. According to the source, many of the casualties occurred when airstrikes hit vehicles carrying reinforcements toward combat zones in rural Taiz. Meanwhile, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea claimed that Saudi aircraft and missiles had carried out 94 strikes across several Yemeni provinces, including Sanaa, Saada, Taiz, Hajjah, Amran and Ibb. He alleged that some civilian locations were targeted and said the attacks caused casualties, although he did not provide a specific death toll. Sarea said the latest attacks brought the Houthis’ reported total number of air and missile strikes since the latest escalation to 1,350. Saudi-led coalition spokesperson Turki Al-Maliki, meanwhile, said three ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward Khamis Mushait in Saudi Arabia had been intercepted and destroyed. The latest violence forms part of a wider escalation around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a crucial maritime passage connecting the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and serving as an important route for global shipping. Fighting has intensified in Taiz and neighboring Lahj following the reported Houthi capture of the Red Sea port of Mocha on Sept. 10 and Mayyun Island, also known as Perim, on Sept. 11. The developments have increased the group’s presence around the strategic strait and shifted some of the conflict’s fiercest ground battles into nearby mountainous areas. The renewed clashes have also coincided with Houthi attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and what the group describes as Saudi air and missile strikes against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. The escalation has revived cross-border fighting that had largely eased following a UN-brokered truce in 2022. Yemen’s current conflict began in late 2014, when the Houthis seized Sanaa and large parts of northern Yemen. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition intervened militarily in support of Yemen’s internationally recognized government.

Israeli warplanes conducted fresh air strikes on the town of al-Mansouri in southern Lebanon on Friday, according to Lebanon’s official media. The town of al-Mansouri has faced repeated bombardment since Israeli forces began occupying areas south of the Litani River in March. Earlier on Friday, Israeli artillery shells bombarded al-Mansouri along with the areas of Wadi Zibqin and Wadi al-Salouqi. Media also reported that Israeli troops executed controlled detonations to demolish residential homes in the towns of Beit Lif and Aitaroun, situated within the Bint Jbeil district. Additionally, reports indicated that Israeli forces fired live ammunition toward the town of Haddatha and the outskirts of Baraachit. With inputs from Al Jazeera

Investigators are probing why an Omani copilot stabbed the Indian captain of a FlyDubai flight to Israel, sending it into a dangerous descent before passengers and crew helped land it in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. The Boeing 737 Max 8 was carrying 174 people, mostly Israelis, from the UAE to Tel Aviv. Passengers said the wounded captain opened the cockpit door before they restrained the copilot and helped stabilize the aircraft after it plunged from 33,000 to 17,000 feet in about a minute, tearing away its rudder. It later landed in Tabuk after an erratic flight near Jordan. The UN and officials said the Omani suspect was arrested. Saudi Arabia, Israel, UAE, US and Oman are investigating motives, including terrorism and mental disorders. Israel requested his transfer to Israel. Netanyahu alleged Islamist indoctrination but gave no evidence; he said Iranian involvement was too early to assess. Trump speculated about terrorism. Oman has not commented. The UAE said it was investigating under its jurisdiction. Netanyahu said Israel received no warning. Four passengers were US citizens. FlyDubai suspended Israel flights, while Israel plans to repatriate stranded passengers. Captain Smit Machchhar was stable. His flight school called the landing miraculous.

At least eight people were killed and 26 others wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry said 1,439 people have been killed and 5,052 others injured since a "ceasefire" took effect in October. Since the onset of the war in October 2023, at least 74,040 Palestinians have been killed and 175,168 wounded in Israeli military operations, the ministry added. With inputs from Al Jazeera