Saudi airspace ‘not safe’

Yemen’s Houthis warned airlines on Monday that Saudi airspace was unsafe for civilian flights, the group's Saba news agency reported, after the Saudi-led coalition said it had joined a counteroffensive announced by Yemen's internationally recognised goverment.
In a statement published by Saba, the Houthis' HOCC agency said Saudi airspace "is not safe" and "will be the theatre of operations of our armed forces".
Yemen's military backed by Saudi jets attacked Houthi targets including in the capital on Monday as they launched an ambitious counteroffensive to recapture all territory held by the group following its recent lightning gains.
The Yemeni military said it carried out more than 1,000 strikes and began an offensive against the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, while the Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognised government said 100 warplanes flew sorties at dawn.
The government announced the lofty goal of retaking all Houthi territory -- home to most of Yemen's population, and much of it held for more than a decade -- on Sunday.
As the Yemeni government, known as the Presidential Leadership Council, made its announcement, the Houthis said they had launched ballistic missiles and drones at Saudi Aramco sites in Riyadh and the Khurais area of Saudi Arabia.
They claimed the attacks caused major fires and were in response to what they said were 50 Saudi-led air and missile strikes in Yemen in 12 hours. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi Arabia.
Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces have secured effective control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, Yemen's Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani told Reuters on Monday, though fighting continues with Houthi forces in the area.
The government forces advanced rapidly along the coast with heavy Saudi air support to seize key positions in the Dhubab area on the narrowest point of the strait, a vital oil route whose seizure by the Iran-backed Houthis last month sent shockwaves through energy markets.
However, while Eryani said the military had seized Dhubab airstrip, located just inland from the strait, and cut off remaining Houthi forces in the area, another government source said fighting continued at a military base near the strait.
Meanwhile, the United States has removed its B-1 bombers from a British air base one week after five men were arrested nearby on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts, a suspected plot that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said was likely backed by Iran.
The planes had been stationed at RAF Fairford, the preferred European base for US bombers located 90 miles (145 km) west of London, which had recently been used for US strikes on Iran. A Pentagon official said on Sunday they had now returned to their home bases in the US.
Iran has said accusations it was involved in any plot are baseless, and its foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, wrote on X: "I can confirm Iran's belief that releasing supposed terrorists working for foreign states really says it all. You're barking up the wrong tree."