Gulf kingdom Bahrain has accused Iran of being behind a pipeline fire that temporarily halted oil supplies from Saudi Arabia, but Tehran rejected the allegation as "childish."

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will embark on a Gulf tour to push for a political solution as tensions rise between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah, his ministry said Saturday.

The Israeli army said it had shot down a Russian-made Syrian drone carrying out a reconnaissance mission over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Saturday.

The drone was intercepted by a Patriot missile in the demilitarised zone between the Israeli- and Syrian-controlled parts of the Golan, a military spokeswoman said in a statement.

Iraqi forces launched an offensive on Saturday to retake the last pocket of territory in the country still held by the Islamic State group, the operation's commander said.

The United States and Russia issued a presidential joint statement saying there was "no military solution" to the war in Syria, the Kremlin said Saturday, after their leaders met briefly on the sidelines of a regional summit in Vietnam.

The Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes on the defence ministry in Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa late Friday, witnesses and rebel media said, leaving at least three civilians wounded.

A French appeals court on Friday dealt a blow to two journalists accused of trying to blackmail the king of Morocco by ruling that secret recordings could be used as evidence against them.

Tunisia on Friday extended for another three months a state of emergency introduced two years ago following a series of deadly jihadist attacks in the North African country. 

Two soldiers and two jihadists were killed in clashes Friday as Emirati-backed Yemeni forces seized an al-Qaida foothold in the country's south, security sources said.

Islamic State group jihadists have retaken nearly half of Albu Kamal in eastern Syria in a counter-attack on what had been the last significant town under their full control, a monitor said Friday.