LONDON: British fighter planes will be deployed to help Saudi Arabia defend itself against increasing attacks from Yemen`s Houthiled Ansarallah forces, the UK government announced on Tuesday.

The defence ministry said the deployment formed part of `additional defensive military support` to Riyadh.

`The UK will fly defensive counter air missions to support the protection of Saudi cities and critical nationalinfrastructure against aerial attack, using RAF Typhoon fighter jets,` the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement.

`These aircraft will operate in a defensive role and will not conduct offensive strikes against the Houthis.Britain will also deploy a military transport aircraft `to support the movement of defence material within Saudi Arabia alongside UK military advisers to support Saudi staff officers`, the statement added.`The continuing attacks from the Houthis on our ally Saudi Arabia are absolutely despicable,` said defence minister Wes Streeting.

The Saudi capital`s international airport has been targeted byAnsarallah forces` strikes 20 times since the beginning of the month.

The Ansarallah forces have imposed a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, hitting its tankers, seizing swathes of Yemen`s Red Sea coast vital for oil exports and causing energy prices to jump, while also raining missiles on the kingdom.

Yemen`s civil war in which Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition supporting the Yemen government since 2015 reignited in September after the collapse of a years-long truce.

Saudis intercept ballistic missile Saudi forces on Tuesday said they had intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at the kingdom`s capital, after authorities issued a danger warning and journalists reported hearing blasts.

The kingdom `intercepted and destroyedaballisticmissilelaunched by the terrorist Houthi militia towards Riyadh`, said Turki Al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudiled military coalition.

Riyadh was shaken by two blasts,according to journalists present in the capital.

`A warning has been issued by the National Early Warning Platform in Riyadh City to alert for a potential danger,` the Saudi civil defence said in a statement on X.

But the alert was lifted a few minutes later, with the civil defence saying `the danger has passed`.

Later in the evening, Al-Malki reported a drone interception in the Riyadh area.

Attacks by Houthi-led Ansarallah forces on Saudi Arabia have reached an unprecedented scale, forcing the postponement of a major investment conference.

The deadly attacks by Ansarallah forces forced Riyadh airport to shut.

Death toll rises to 73 The Saudi Arabia-backed Yemeni government authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll from a Houthiled Ansarallah strike a day earlier on a military camp of government forces to 73, as fighting between the foes escalates.

It marked the deadliest attack inweeks as fighting between the Houthis and Yemen`s Saudi-supported government rages.

The death toll from Monday`s strike on the camp in the energyrich Shabwa province `increased to 73 martyrs, while search and followup efforts are ongoing to discover the fate of 14 missing people`, the provincial authorities said.

UN seeks access to Taiz The UN said aid must immediately be allowed to enter Yemen`s Taiz, besieged by Houthi-led Ansarallah forces. The Ansarallah forces have encircled Taiz since early October, blocking its road link to Aden.

`Humanitarian aid must be immediately allowed to enter the city and its passage must be facilitated,` UN human rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

He said relief must reach the city to avert a rights catastrophe. He said the Houthis` closure of the only supply route linking Taiz to Aden is placing civilians at grave risk, blocking humanitarian aid and cutting off essential supplies.-Agencies