The planes' removal comes after several men were arrested on suspicion of a terror plot on the air base, with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham saying that Britain had "strong indications" that Iran was involved in the suspected plot targeting the base.
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Police in Baltimore have said the young girl was not a target of the shooting but was caught in the crossfire.
Yemen’s leader announced on Sunday the start of a new military operation to retake all territory held by the Houthis, even as the group made fresh gains on the ground, effectively encircling a government-held city. The announcement sets an ambitious goal for the embattled government, which recently lost swathes of the country’s Red Sea coastline and areas around the Bab al-Mandab strait — a chokepoint for international shipping — after a lightning offensive by Houthis. Yemen’s government has struggled to roll back the surge, even with the military support of Saudi Arabia, where the Houthis said they had attacked oil infrastructure in the capital yet again on Sunday. “I announce today the start of military operations to retake the remaining territories of the republic and extend the authority of the state and its institutions across the entire national territory,” Rashad al-Alimi, the head of Yemen’s presidential council, said in a statement. Alimi called on all the armed forces “to begin carrying out their assigned missions, in accordance with the approved plans, until the country is liberated from the grip of the Houthi terrorist militia”. The statement came just hours after the Houthis cut a vital supply route linking the besieged city of Taiz with the government’s interim capital Aden, according to four security sources. The Houthi advance followed days of heavy fighting in and around Taiz, where dozens of combatants were reported killed on Friday. The battle for Taiz is taking place on several fronts, including highlands overlooking coastal areas recently seized by the Houthis. Taiz is Yemen’s third-largest city after Sanaa and Aden. “We were informed that the Houthis had taken control of the al-Safiya area, where they cut the main road and took control of the police station,” a police source in the area told AFP . Three sources with the Yemeni military also confirmed Houthi control over the area and the supply route, with traffic along the road halted and the group now surrounding Taiz city. The military sources added that fighting in the area was ongoing. Sources from both sides told AFP on Sunday that fighting in and around the western province of Taiz has killed more than 70 people over the past day. Sources from the internationally recognised government reported that 34 government troops were killed — 20 on the edge of Taiz province in neighbouring Lahj — while Houthi military sources said 39 of their fighters were killed in fighting across Taiz and in border areas with Lahj. Taiz city itself remains under the control of government forces but has long been besieged from the north, east and west by Houthi fighters and remains one of the main fronts in Yemen’s long-running civil war. “They’ve achieved the military objective of isolating Taiz from Aden, even if they haven’t fully taken control of it,” Farea Al-Muslimi, research fellow at the Chatham House think-tank, told AFP . Muslimi also downplayed expectations over what the coming government offensive might accomplish. “In my opinion, it’s meaningless,” he added. But Taiz residents vowed to resist any Houthi advance. “We will defeat and crush anyone who enters the city of Taiz. We will not abandon Taiz,” resident Zakaria Al-Dhubhani said. “This is a message to the Houthis: I swear to God, we will not allow you to advance a single inch into the city.” Saudi attacks Following several years of relative calm, Yemen’s civil war reignited in July against the backdrop of the wider conflict in the Middle East. It has also drawn in Saudi Arabia — leader of an anti-Houthi military coalition since 2015 — with the group regularly claiming attacks on the kingdom’s territory in recent weeks and declaring a blockade of its ships in the Red Sea. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Sunday said the group launched ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi energy giant Aramco’s sites in Riyadh and in the oil-rich Khurais area in the east. “The strikes were precise, causing large fires at the targeted sites,” Saree said on X. Saudi oil exports were already under pressure thanks to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf. The Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV channel reported Saudi strikes on Sunday in the northern governorates of al-Jawf and Saada, saying at least two people had been wounded. They came a day after Yemen’s government said its forces struck Houthi targets around the country, including in the capital Sanaa, the northwestern governorate of Saada and the group’s positions near Taiz in the southwest. The Yemeni government’s air capabilities, however, are limited, and the Saudi-led coalition has long been the primary force carrying out airstrikes against the Houthis. Experts believe the recent operations have most likely been conducted by Saudi warplanes as well. Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world and remains gripped by a vast humanitarian crisis that has unspooled since the civil war broke out in 2014. That year the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa from the Saudi-led government, before going on to take control of much of the country’s north, with Riyadh’s international coalition intervening the following year. Hunger warning Hostilities between the Houthis and Yemen’s government had reignited after four years of a fragile truce when Iran sent a plane to Sanaa carrying a Houthi delegation. The flight did not seek authorisation from Saudi Arabia, contravening a practice in place for a decade. Riyadh retaliated with strikes on Sanaa airport, and in response the Houthis attacked Saudi territory for the first time since 2022. Since then, fighting has intensified with the Houthis launching a lightning offensive in which they seized control of coastal regions along the Bab al-Mandab strait. They have also struck multiple Saudi targets including oil infrastructure and the capital Riyadh while also announcing a naval blockade on Saudi shipping in the Red Sea. The renewed fighting has worsened a humanitarian crisis sweeping Yemen, with the World Food Programme warning on Friday that three-quarters of the population was unable to meet its basic food needs.
The four Pakistanis who were injured during a security operation to recover a hijacked oil tanker off the coast of Somalia, along with the remains of three others who lost their lives in the episode, arrived in Karachi on Sunday evening. The crew members of MT Honour 25 reached Karachi after departing from Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa via Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 694. Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Labour Minister Saeed Ghani, PPP Senator Waqar Mehdi, MQM-P MNA Farooq Sattar and others welcomed the rescued seamen upon their arrival at Jinnah International Airport. Shah said the loss of lives and injuries was an “extremely regrettable incident” and extended his condolences to the bereaved families. The minister said all expenses for the treatment and care of the injured will be borne by the Sindh government, with the wounded to be taken to Aga Khan Hospital. Pakistan’s ambassadors to Djibouti and Ethiopia had seen off the four injured Pakistani crew members — Usman Ghani, Aqeel Khan, Ameen bin Shams and Yasir Khan — along with the mortal remains of Rafiullah Khan, Syed Kashif Umer and Mahmood Ahmad Ansari from Addis Ababa. The seven were among 10 Pakistanis aboard MT Honour 25, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in April. Apart from Pakistanis, the vessel’s crew also included seven Indonesians, an Indian and a Sri Lankan. For around five months, there had been no progress either in negotiations or in the payment of the ransom, said to be around $3 million, for the recovery of the hostages, despite concerns abounding about their declining health. Since the hijacking, the crew made several emotional videos and audio appeals , reporting that they ran out of clean water, food and medicine. For its part, FO maintained that it remained “actively engaged” to secure the release of the sailors. On Sept 29, Somali maritime police recovered the Palau-flagged oil tanker amid reports of casualties among the crew. During the operation, it said, 21 suspected pirates were apprehended, while operations to locate the remaining members continue. “Before the operation [had] begun, the pirates on board the ship killed five of the crew. Among those killed were three from Pakistan, one from Myanmar and one from India,” it said. Advocate Quratulain of the Ansar Burney Trust, however, gave a separate account of the events, saying the pirates had brought the hostages onto the deck when they realised Puntland forces were approaching. “They tied their hands and warned to kill them if the police force came anywhere near them without paying them the ransom,” she said, adding that the ransom demand had by then been reduced from an initial $3 million to $1m. She said the pirates opened fire on the hostages as the security forces proceeded with the operation, killing three Pakistanis, one Indian and one Myanmar national. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a relief package worth Rs12.5 million for the deceased sailors’ families.
A 31-year-old Hilton man has been accused of sexually grooming young girls, as a private investigator and Childline KZN warn about the dangers of online exploitation and sexting.
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