🔻The news website Axios has reported that Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, contacted Donald Trump, the U.S. president, twice last week and asked him to attack the Houthi rebels in Yemen, but the request was rejected.

The report was published at the same time as fighting in Yemen intensified again. Yemeni government forces, backed by Saudi Arabia, said on Saturday that they targeted Houthi positions around the city of Mokha on the Red Sea coast.

In recent days, the Houthis have taken control of more parts of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and several strategic islands, strengthening their control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The group has also said that Saudi ports in the Red Sea are under naval blockade.

On Saturday night, Saudi officials also said that a Houthi projectile hitting an area near the border left two people injured and damaged a mosque, several buildings, and vehicles.

📷 AFP via Getty Images