Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey are set to sign a joint defence agreement on Friday in Jeddah, according to Saudi military and government sources. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will meet in the Saudi port city as regional powers seek to strengthen security ties amid the Iran war. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis targeted the Saudi-backed and internationally recognised Yemeni government, killing at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on military bases in the Marib and Hadramawt provinces.
Yemen, which has been embroiled in more than a decade of war, got sucked into the Middle East conflict last month as the Houthis upended a 2022 truce with the Saudi-backed government.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan to sign defence pact on Friday, sources say
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are expected to sign a joint defence agreement in Jeddah, sources close to the Saudi military and government told AFP.
Regional powers are looking to strengthen security ties against a backdrop of the Iran war, which has drawn in Gulf states and disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the Red Sea city.
Sharif and Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir arrived in the kingdom on Thursday for a visit lasting until Saturday, while Erdogan is expected on Friday, according to the Turkish presidency.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said the visit was taking place from August 6 to 8.
Houthi missile attacks kill 58 Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks on Thursday, a military source said, in one of the deadliest days of the country’s civil war in four years.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels attacked government positions with ballistic missiles and drones in response to an alleged military buildup backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
Oil rises on concerns over Strait of Hormuz reopening plans
Oil continued its rise on Friday amid further concerns around the opening of the Strait of Hormuz
as Iran, working with Oman, suggested banning vessels deemed hostile from the strait and heavily fining those who violated the proposed rules.
Brent crude futures rose 99 cents, or 1.2%, to $83.48 a barrel by 0010 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate futures rose 85 cents, or 1.1%, to $78.84.
Oil futures settled up at over $3 a barrel on Thursday as Iran reviewed a bill to ban US and Israeli vessels from the Strait of Hormuz where roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transmitted before the war began at the end of February.
Saudi military says Houthi attacks left 11 civilians, including a child, injured near Yemen border
More than 10 civilians, including a 4-year-old child, were injured in Saudi Arabia on Thursday after a series of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to the Saudi military.
The attacks, which took place in the southern region of Najran, near the Yemeni border, came hours after the Iran-backed rebels claimed responsibility for another series of strikes in central and eastern Yemen that killed at least 30 government troops and wounded at least 50 others.
A Houthi leader said Saudi-backed troops were targeted in the attacks and that “hundreds” were either killed or injured. The assaults hit camps for forces of the internationally recognized government in the provinces of Marib and Hadramout, the Yemeni officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Yemen‘s Iran-backed Houthis killed at least 58 government troops in missile and drone attacks, a military source said, after one of the deadliest days in the country’s civil war in four years.
Israel refused in talks to withdraw from more areas of south Lebanon unless the Lebanese army had full control of an initial two “pilot zones”, a Lebanese presidential source told AFP.
