Violent battles continued between the Yemeni army and the Houthis in Marib, at a time when Saudi media said on Friday evening that the coalition destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards Jizan, as well as a booby-trapped drone launched by the Houthis towards Khamis Mushait.
The Houthi’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, announced that the Air Force had carried out an attack on a site at Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia with a "Qasef K2" drone.
The Houthis said earlier on Friday that they had "attacked with a drone aircraft the grounds of warplanes at Jizan airport, in southern Saudi Arabia," while the coalition leadership announced that the plane had been intercepted and destroyed.
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said on Twitter that the targeting came in response to the continuing "aggression and siege" on Yemen, indicating that the injury was accurate.
On the other hand, the Saudi Press Agency quoted the coalition as saying that an explosive drone launched by the Houthis towards Jizan was intercepted and destroyed.
The coalition added that the necessary measures are taken to protect civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, as he put it.
Battles for Marib
On the other hand, the media center of the Yemeni government forces announced that it had taken control of several sites in the Ma'rib governorate, east of Yemen, after it launched a counter-attack on the Houthi group's fighters.
This came in the midst of the battles that took place on several fronts in the governorate, the most ferocious of which occurred in the Kassara area, northwest of the city of Ma'rib, after the Houthis launched an attack on Yemeni army positions, according to what Yemeni military sources reported.
At the same time, a security source said that the Houthis intensified their bombing of the city of Marib, the governorate's center, by launching ballistic missiles and drones at populated areas and camps for the displaced.
The source added that the government forces' ground defenses shot down a plane bomb launched by the Houthis, without causing any casualties.
On the other hand, Houthi media said that the coalition launched raids on the districts of Sirwah and Meddhal in Marib.
Prisoner exchange
In a related context, the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council released the director of the Marib Governor's office and 4 administrative employees who had been kidnapped earlier during a working visit to Aden.
This came within the framework of a prisoner exchange process whereby the legitimate government, in return, freed 12 militants of the Transitional Council, who were arrested during confrontations between the two parties in Abyan governorate a month ago, according to what a local source said.
A meeting in Riyadh
On the political level, Prince Khalid bin Salman, the Saudi Deputy Minister of Defense, said in a tweet on Twitter that his country continues to support the Yemeni people and their government in all aspects, and that it supports all efforts to end the Yemeni crisis and cease the fire to address the humanitarian situation and reach a comprehensive political solution.
The Yemeni News Agency quoted the Saudi official as confirming during a meeting with Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdul Malik in Riyadh that the Kingdom rejected any escalation that would disrupt the work of the government and state institutions or obstruct the implementation of the Riyadh Agreement.
The agency stated that the two sides confirmed their rejection of any escalation targeting stability and security in the areas controlled by the Yemeni government.
For about 7 years, Yemen has been witnessing an ongoing war between the pro-government forces backed by an Arab military alliance led by the Saudi neighbor, and the Houthi militia supported by Iran and controlling governorates, including the capital, Sanaa, since September 2014.