RIYADH: Saudi-led coalition launched a “massive” attack on Saturday Yemen Missiles fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed two people in the kingdom, the first such death in three years.
The Houthis warned of a “painful” response to Yemen’s oil-rich northern neighbor if the coalition does not curb its “aggression” against the conflict-torn country.
Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since 2014, pitting an internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition against the Houthis, who control much of the north.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed so far in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The latest violence came overnight when two people – one Saudi and the other Yemeni – were killed in a projectile attack Jazani, Saudi Civil Defense said.
“A military projectile fell on a commercial store on the main road, resulting in the deaths of two,” it said, injuring six Saudis and a Bangladeshi civilian.
Images from the official Saudi press agency after the attack reportedly showed a large crater in the ground and vehicles destroyed.
Houthis warn of ‘painful’ reaction
The Saudi-led coalition said shortly after that it was “preparing for a massive military operation”.
It later launched an airstrike, which “killed three civilians, including a child and a woman, and injured six others,” Yemeni doctors told AFP.
The coalition will hold a news conference on Sunday to address the latest developments, with Saudi officials clarifying earlier advice that it would take on Saturday.
Houthi spokesperson yahya saree Warned Saudi Arabia of “painful operations as long as it continues its aggression and crime”.
In a statement on the Houthis’ Telegram channel, he said the rebels had fired three ballistic missiles at Jazan, the southern region of the state bordering Yemen.
Insurgents frequently launch missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia, targeting its airports and oil infrastructure.
The latest was the first in more than three years, resulting in fatalities in the state, which recorded its first death in 2018 from a Houthi missile attack in Riyadh.
It also comes as fighting intensifies between the two sides, with the coalition intensifying airstrikes. sana,
‘Deaths every day’
Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and its ally the United States have long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with state-of-the-art weapons, a charge the Shia-majority Islamic Republic denies.
The United States Navy said this week it has seized 1,400 AK-47 rifles and ammunition from a fishing boat it claims was smuggling weapons from Iran to Yemen’s Jedi Shiite minority Houthis.
“The stateless vessel had its origins in Iran and crossed international waters along a route historically used for illegal arms traffic to the Houthis in Yemen,” the statement said.
On Thursday – a day after the coalition targeted a Houthi military camp in Sanaa – the military coalition said it shot down a bomb-laden drone near Abha airport in the state’s south, leaving debris nearby, but There were no casualties.
And earlier this week, it targeted Sanaa airport, which has largely ceased operations since August 2016 due to a Saudi-led blockade, with waivers for aid flights.
In his Christmas Day message, Pope Francis lamented the fact that “huge tragedies” were being “silently passed on” in conflict-torn Arab countries, including Yemen.
“Let us hear the cries of babies born in Yemen, where a great tragedy, which everyone ignores, has been quietly going on for years, causing deaths every day,” he said at the Vatican.
world food program Yemen has been “forced” to cut aid due to a lack of funds, and warned of an increase in hunger in the country.
The United Nations estimates that Yemen’s war would have killed 377,000 people by the end of the year, through both direct and indirect impacts.
More than 80% of Yemen’s population of about 30 million are in need of humanitarian aid, in what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The Houthis warned of a “painful” response to Yemen’s oil-rich northern neighbor if the coalition does not curb its “aggression” against the conflict-torn country.
Yemen has been ravaged by civil war since 2014, pitting an internationally recognized government backed by a Saudi-led military coalition against the Houthis, who control much of the north.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed so far in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The latest violence came overnight when two people – one Saudi and the other Yemeni – were killed in a projectile attack Jazani, Saudi Civil Defense said.
“A military projectile fell on a commercial store on the main road, resulting in the deaths of two,” it said, injuring six Saudis and a Bangladeshi civilian.
Images from the official Saudi press agency after the attack reportedly showed a large crater in the ground and vehicles destroyed.
Houthis warn of ‘painful’ reaction
The Saudi-led coalition said shortly after that it was “preparing for a massive military operation”.
It later launched an airstrike, which “killed three civilians, including a child and a woman, and injured six others,” Yemeni doctors told AFP.
The coalition will hold a news conference on Sunday to address the latest developments, with Saudi officials clarifying earlier advice that it would take on Saturday.
Houthi spokesperson yahya saree Warned Saudi Arabia of “painful operations as long as it continues its aggression and crime”.
In a statement on the Houthis’ Telegram channel, he said the rebels had fired three ballistic missiles at Jazan, the southern region of the state bordering Yemen.
Insurgents frequently launch missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia, targeting its airports and oil infrastructure.
The latest was the first in more than three years, resulting in fatalities in the state, which recorded its first death in 2018 from a Houthi missile attack in Riyadh.
It also comes as fighting intensifies between the two sides, with the coalition intensifying airstrikes. sana,
‘Deaths every day’
Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia and its ally the United States have long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with state-of-the-art weapons, a charge the Shia-majority Islamic Republic denies.
The United States Navy said this week it has seized 1,400 AK-47 rifles and ammunition from a fishing boat it claims was smuggling weapons from Iran to Yemen’s Jedi Shiite minority Houthis.
“The stateless vessel had its origins in Iran and crossed international waters along a route historically used for illegal arms traffic to the Houthis in Yemen,” the statement said.
On Thursday – a day after the coalition targeted a Houthi military camp in Sanaa – the military coalition said it shot down a bomb-laden drone near Abha airport in the state’s south, leaving debris nearby, but There were no casualties.
And earlier this week, it targeted Sanaa airport, which has largely ceased operations since August 2016 due to a Saudi-led blockade, with waivers for aid flights.
In his Christmas Day message, Pope Francis lamented the fact that “huge tragedies” were being “silently passed on” in conflict-torn Arab countries, including Yemen.
“Let us hear the cries of babies born in Yemen, where a great tragedy, which everyone ignores, has been quietly going on for years, causing deaths every day,” he said at the Vatican.
world food program Yemen has been “forced” to cut aid due to a lack of funds, and warned of an increase in hunger in the country.
The United Nations estimates that Yemen’s war would have killed 377,000 people by the end of the year, through both direct and indirect impacts.
More than 80% of Yemen’s population of about 30 million are in need of humanitarian aid, in what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
,