Air strikes target Houthi positions south of Yemen’s Taiz
Air strikes have targeted Houthi fighters and vehicles in the al-Maafer district, south of Taiz, a Yemeni government force source has told Al Jazeera.
Two civilians killed and five wounded in Houthi attacks in Yemen’s Taiz
Yemen’s Interior Ministry says a civilian and a young girl have been killed and five others wounded, including women, children and elderly people, following Houthi artillery and rocket shelling and sniper fire targeting several areas of the Taiz governorate on Wednesday.
Qatar sign four-nation defence pact amid ‘unprecedented security risks’
The new defence agreement between Qatar, Turkiye, Pakistan and Indonesia focuses on developing cooperation between the four countries’ defence industrial bases, according to Rashid al-Mohanadi, a security and defence analyst.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, al-Mohanadi said the agreement comes amid “unprecedented security risks across the region”, but stressed that efforts to develop domestic defence industries predate the pact by decades.
Al-Mohanadi said there was both a “strategic rationale” and an “economic rationale” for developing domestic defence industries.
“Countries that have domestic defence industry, on average, spend less on defence on the same capabilities compared to countries that have zero defence capability,” he said.
He added that the sector was “a really good diversification vertical you can develop as a hydrocarbon-based economy”.
The strategic rationale, he explained, was “developing capabilities that fit the problem set of the armed forces of the region”.
Israeli forces fire ‘indiscriminately’ during incursion in southwestern Syria
Israeli forces have deployed snipers atop civilian homes and fired indiscriminately across residential neighbourhoods in Jamla village, located in the southwestern Syrian governorate of Deraa, according to Syrian state television.
It said the actions occurred during an incursion involving searches of several properties in the area.
Who controls what in Yemen?
The state of control in Yemen’s war as of October 13, 2026.
A recap of recent developments
- Two people have been killed and two wounded after Saudi Arabia’s air defences shot down a drone attempting to target Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield in the southeast of the country, while another resident has been killed and eight others wounded following an attack on King Fahd international airport in Dammam.
- The US has issued an ordered departure for nonemergency government staff and their families in Saudi Arabia, according to State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatens to invade any country that attacks it as the military shifts to an “offensive and asymmetrical” defence doctrine, according to its spokesperson Hossein Mohebbi.
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says “while Iran is firmly committed to seeking a dignified peaceful resolution to the conflict, we are also fully prepared to defend ourselves”.
- Dozens of Israeli fighter jets fly over Syria and Iraq to carry out a training exercise along Iran’s western borders to demonstrate strength, according to US media reports.
- Israeli attacks have killed seven Palestinians across Gaza in the past 24 hours and wounded 24 others, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
- Qatar, Turkiye, Indonesia and Pakistan have signed a new defence industry agreement in Doha to develop and produce military equipment and defence systems jointly.
Welcome to our coverage
Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran. Stay with us for the latest news and analysis on the conflict and its fallout across the Middle East, including in Yemen.
