Houthi-Saudi Fighting Intensifies With 63 Combatants Killed in 24 Hours, First Saudi Fatality as Pakistan Vows Unconditional Defense Commitment

Fresh fighting in Yemen left at least 63 combatants dead in the 24 hours ending Thursday September 18, with Saudi Arabia reporting the kingdom's first fatality since hostilities reignited, according to multiple outlets. At least 23 Yemeni government soldiers were killed in missile and drone attacks by the Houthis in two southwestern provinces over the previous 24 hours, a government military official told AFP, while Houthi military sources reported 40 fighters killed in Saudi airstrikes and ground fighting during the same period. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia's civil defense agency reported the country's first fatality since the Houthis began targeting Saudi territory as part of their revived campaign, with falling debris from an intercepted Houthi drone killing a Yemeni resident and injuring two others in Taif Governorate, part of the Makkah region in western Saudi Arabia. Yemen's Houthi rebels said Friday that Saudi Arabia carried out 26 attacks against areas under the group's control in the past 24 hours, as the two sides continue trading fire, with the group claiming Saudi attacks on Houthi-held territory had reached 300 over the past week alone, hitting positions across the areas it controls, AFP reported. Yemen's government, backed by Saudi Arabia, said Friday its forces had killed 30 Houthi rebels and wounded more than 60 in clashes in the al-Waziiyah district of Taiz province. The Houthis also claimed to have shot down a Saudi F-15 fighter jet over Marib using a locally made surface-to-air missile, though this could not be independently verified. Pakistan military spokesperson Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry told Arab News on Thursday that Pakistan will go to any extent to defend Saudi Arabia against attack, describing Islamabad's commitment as unconditional and extending to protecting Islam's two holiest sites in Makkah and Madinah. The pledge follows a wave of recent missile and drone attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement on Saudi cities, with more than 8