Saudi coalition targets Houthi arms depot in Yemen 

The US-backed, Saud-led coalition yesterday carried out air raids over several Yemeni provinces in areas under the control of pro-Houthi forces, including the capital Sanaa, AlKhaleej Online has reported.

The coalition targeted arms stores and military reinforcements for Houthi forces along the Sirwah front in Marib province. The Houthi-held Majzar district in Marib was also hit as was Al-Jafra in neighbouring Al-Jawf province.

One freelance journalist based in Sanaa believes that the attacks were prompted by the fact that the Houthis are closing in on Marib. The city is the remaining stronghold of Saudi-supported ground-forces in the north of Yemen.

READ: UN calls on Houthis to drop death sentences against journalists

Yesterday, the coalition claimed that its defence systems had intercepted and destroyed a number of ballistic missiles and drones launched by the Houthis towards southern Saudi Arabia. However, according to Houthi-supported Yemeni armed forces spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree, the drones hit military targets in the south-west Saudi province of Asir.

“By the grace and generosity of God, our air force carried out a massive operation on aircraft hangars, armouries and sensitive military targets in Khamis Mushait,” Saree announced. It is not the first time that the airbase has been targeted by Houthi drones.

The operation used five Qased-2K drones, explained Saree. “It was a response to the massive escalation of the aggression and its continuous and successive massacres.”

Earlier this week, the UN’s decision to remove Saudi Arabia from a blacklist which named and shamed the Kingdom for killing children in Yemen was criticised by human rights groups and the Sanaa-based National Salvation Government.

READ: Yemen government calls for UN to relocate office from Houthi-controlled Hudaydah