Saudi Arabia Announces Bounties for 40 Houthi Leaders

List of 40 Houthi leaders (Asharq Al-Awsat)
List of 40 Houthi leaders (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia Announces Bounties for 40 Houthi Leaders

List of 40 Houthi leaders (Asharq Al-Awsat)
List of 40 Houthi leaders (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia announced a list of 40 names of militia leaders and elements responsible for planning, executing and supporting various terrorist activities by Houthi terrorist group. The Kingdom also announced financial rewards of over $430 million for information leading to their arrest or whereabouts.

The list included president of Political Council Saleh Ali al-Sammad, head of Revolutionary Committee of the Houthi armed militia Mohammed Ali Abdulkarim al-Houthi, Zakaria al-Shami, Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim, Abduqalik Bader al-Houthi, Mohammed al-Atifi, Yousef Ahssan al-Madani, Abdulqader al-Shami, Abdurab Jurfan, and Yahya al-Shami where a reward of $20 million had been allocated to anyone who gives information leading to their arrest.

The list also included: Abdulkarim al-Houthi, Yahya al-Houthi, Hassan Zaid, Safar al-Sofi, Mohammed al-Ghumari, Abdulrazaq al-Marouni, Amer al-Marani, Ibrahim al-Shami, Fadhl Motaa', Mohsin al-Hamzi, Ahmad Daghsan, Ahmad Hamid, Talal A'qlan, Abdulilah Hajar, renowned arms dealer Faris Mana'a, Ahmad Aqabat, Abdulatif al-Mahdi, Abdulhakim al-Khywani, Faris al-Saqaf, Mobarak al-Zaydi, Ali al-Razami, Salih Mosfir al-Shaer, Ali al-Moshaki, Mohammad Sharafaldeen, Dhaif-Allah al-Shami, Abu Ali al-Kahlani, and Ali Qarshah. The rewards range between $5 million and $15 million.

The list had been issued based on the Kingdom's commitments to combat terrorism and its sources of financing, fight extremist ideology and its tools and promotion, as well as its continuous action to protect the society from it.

A statement on Saudi Press Agency (SPA) also indicated that the names had been assigned in light of increased terrorist activity by "Houthi group and their continuous endeavor to harm the Kingdom's security with support of the Iranian regime (the sponsor of the all terrorist organizations in the region) and detected bolstering the Houthi terrorist group's cooperation with the Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization within framework of exchanging expertise and enhancing military capabilities among these terrorist organizations and the use of ballistic missiles in a grave precedent."

These dangerous missiles were made available to these rogue terrorist organizations in a direct threat to the Kingdom's cities which aims at terrorizing the innocent and harming the Kingdom's security, stability, tranquility and public order, according to the statement.

The Kingdom urged "those who own information to contact competent authorities in the Kingdom through the stated safe communication mechanisms which have been designed to protect the secrecy of provided information and the identity of its providers," the statement added.

Earlier, Saudi-led coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Maliki said that this list is one of many the Kingdom has of armed terrorist groups including Houthis which insists on "harming Saudi's security and safety of the country with the support of the Iranian regime and Hezbollah."

"The Houthis' dangerous escalation came because of Iranian support," Maliki said in a press conference.

Maliki gave pieces of evidence that prove Iran's involvement in providing Houthis with modern weapons, with the continuous support of Lebanese Hezbollah.

He stated that Houthis launched a missile at Riyadh which was intercepted and fragments of the missile landed in King Khaled International Airport, however air traffic was not disrupted.

"Shattered fragments from the intercepted missile landed in an uninhabited area of the airport and there were no injuries," he assured.

Maliki pointed out that this dangerous escalation would not have been possible hadn't it been for the support of Tehran regime. He explained that the ballistic missile provided by Iran to Houthis were backed by Iranian experts and with the support of Lebanese Hezbollah.

The spokesperson said that those militias are trying to control Bab el-Mandeb which is a dangerous threat to the regional security and stability and international navigation.

Showing the pictures of two ballistic missiles, named “Volcano 1” and “Volcano 2”, Maliki said they are proofs of smuggled ballistic missiles since Yemen didn’t have any before. He added that the Houthis planted nearly 50,000 mines on the border of Saudi Arabia.

He also explained that Iran had provided Houthis with techniques available in "Earthquake" missile that is used anti-aircrafts, however they used it as a ground-to-air missile. He added that the missile had been altered from air-to-air to become ground-to-air and when launched can reach 300 kilometers.

Maliki confirmed that Earthquake missile is only owned by Iran, announcing that coalition had destroyed one missile of that kind that had been prepared to be launched at Nejran border area.



US Embassy in Beirut Warns of Possible Iran Threat to Universities in Lebanon

People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)
People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)
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US Embassy in Beirut Warns of Possible Iran Threat to Universities in Lebanon

People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)
People walk past the main gate to the campus of the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the center of Beirut on January 13, 2022. (AFP)

The US embassy in Beirut said on ‌Friday ‌that Iran ‌and ⁠its aligned armed ⁠groups "may intend to target ⁠universities ‌in Lebanon".

In ‌a security ‌alert, ‌the embassy also ‌urged US citizens to depart ⁠Lebanon "while ⁠commercial flight options remain available".

Lebanon was dragged into the conflict in the Middle East when Iran-backed Hezbollah shot rockets at Israel in retaliation to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the beginning of the war.

Over the past 24 hours, Israeli strikes killed 23 people and wounded 98, the Lebanese health ministry said Friday.

The ministry said that the overall death toll includes 125 children and 91 women, since Israel launched intense airstrikes across Lebanon after the Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel in solidarity with Iran on March 2. The strikes have also wounded 4,138 others.

Among those killed are 53 health workers, while Israeli strikes have targeted 83 emergency medical service facilities, the health ministry said.


UN Force Says 3 Peacekeepers Wounded in Blast Inside South Lebanon Position

 UNIFIL vehicles drive on a main road in Qlayaa, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Qlayaa, southern Lebanon, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)
UNIFIL vehicles drive on a main road in Qlayaa, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Qlayaa, southern Lebanon, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)
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UN Force Says 3 Peacekeepers Wounded in Blast Inside South Lebanon Position

 UNIFIL vehicles drive on a main road in Qlayaa, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Qlayaa, southern Lebanon, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)
UNIFIL vehicles drive on a main road in Qlayaa, amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Qlayaa, southern Lebanon, March 27, 2026. (Reuters)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said a blast hit one of its positions and wounded three peacekeepers on Friday, the third such incident in a week.

"This afternoon, an explosion inside a UN position... injured three peacekeepers, two seriously. They are all currently being evacuated to hospital. We do not yet know the origin of the explosion," UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said in a statement.

"UNIFIL reminds all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers, including by avoiding combat activities nearby that could put them in danger," she added.

The UN force is deployed in south Lebanon near the Israeli border, where Israel and Hezbollah have been at war for a month and where Israeli troops are pressing a ground invasion.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when the Tehran-backed Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the US-Israeli attack that killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel has responded with massive strikes across Lebanon, as well as the ground operation.

UNIFIL had said that a peacekeeper was killed on Sunday evening when a projectile of unknown origin "exploded in a UNIFIL position near Adchit al-Qusayr".

The following day, UNIFIL said an "explosion of unknown origin" destroyed a peacekeeping vehicle, killing two more Indonesian troops.

It said investigations had been launched into both incidents.

A UN security source told AFP this week that Israeli fire was the source of Sunday's attack, while a mine may have caused the following day's deadly blast.

Israel's military denied responsibility for Monday's incident.

"A comprehensive operational examination indicates that no explosive device was placed in the area by army troops, and that no troops were present in the area at all," the statement said.

According to the UN, 97 force members have been killed in violence since UNIFIL was first established to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon in 1978.

The mandate of the force, which for decades has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon, finishes at the end of this year.


RSF in Sudan Kill at Least 10 People in Hospital Drone Attack, Medical Group Says

Fighters of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drive an armored vehicle in Khartoum in 2023. (AFP)
Fighters of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drive an armored vehicle in Khartoum in 2023. (AFP)
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RSF in Sudan Kill at Least 10 People in Hospital Drone Attack, Medical Group Says

Fighters of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drive an armored vehicle in Khartoum in 2023. (AFP)
Fighters of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drive an armored vehicle in Khartoum in 2023. (AFP)

Sudan ’s paramilitary forces killed at least 10 people on Thursday in a drone attack that hit a hospital in the south-central part of the country, said a medical group.

Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, said the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF, launched two drone strikes on al-Jabalain Hospital in the White Nile province, hitting an operating theater and a maternity ward.

The strikes, the latest in an intensifying drone warfare between the army and the RSF, killed 10 people, including seven medical staffers, and injured at least 19 people. Those injured were transferred to a hospital in Kosti, which is around 50 miles (80 kilometers) away, said MSF.

Salah Moussa, a senior staffer in the nursing department at al-Jabalain Hospital, was injured in his leg in one of the two strikes. He told The Associated Press by phone on Friday that those killed include the hospital’s general manager, the administrative manager, several policemen and a citizen.

Moussa said he was in his house near the hospital when he heard the sound of explosions at around 11 a.m. on Thursday.

“I rushed to the hospital when I heard the explosion and while we were helping evacuate three injured staff members, another drone strike was launched and I got hit and lost consciousness,” he said. “The hospital lost all its medical and administrative leadership in this attack.”

The strikes are the latest in a series of attacks on the health care system in Sudan that continues to be hit hard during the ongoing war between the army and the RSF that broke out in April 2023. The World Health Organization said in March that over 200 attacks have targeted health care since the war began. Most recently, 70 people were killed, including at least 13 children, in a strike on a hospital in Sudan’s western Darfur region last month.

The nearly three-year conflict in Sudan killed more than 40,000 people, according to UN figures, but aid groups say the true number could be much higher.

“The attack is even more appalling as it occurred during a children’s immunization campaign,” the MSF said of the strike on the al-Jabalain hospital.

Meanwhile, Emergency Lawyers, a local rights group, said Thursday that the attacks also targeted a medical supply depot in Rabak, the capital city of the White Nile province.

The Emergency Lawyers said the “recurring pattern” of drone attacks by the warring parties since March in the provinces of South Kordofan, Blue Nile, East, Central and South Darfur displaced more people.

On Friday, Khalid Aleisir, the minister of culture, information, antiquities and Tourism condemned the attack and called for designating the RSF a terrorist organization and prosecuting its members.

“We also hold regional backers directly responsible for perpetuating this violent campaign through military and logistical support, including advanced weaponry and unmanned aerial systems, which have escalated violence and targeted civilians,” he wrote on X.

Sudan Doctors Network, a local group that monitors war violence, called the attack a “deliberate assault on health facilities and unarmed civilians” that further worsens an already deteriorating health sector in the country.

“MSF is outraged by these repeated attacks on health care, which have escalated dangerously in recent weeks,” said Esperanza Santos, MSF head of emergencies for Sudan in the group’s statement on Thursday. “Health facilities, medical staff, and patients must always be protected. We call on RSF and SAF to immediately stop this spiral of violence against medical facilities.”

A surge in drone strikes in the Sudanese region of Kordofan has taken a growing toll on civilians and hampered aid operations, analysts and humanitarian workers previously said.