Saudi-led coalition initiates major operation against Yemen’s Houthis

A major operation has been launched against Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebels on Thursday by the Saudi-led military coalition. The full-scale operation comes as a retaliation after the missile and drone attacks carried out by the Irani-backed Huthis on the Saudi kingdom. The coalition has mentioned that it would be targeting the rebel leadership.

Already on Wednesday,

residents living in the rebel-held capital, Sanaa, told to AFP they have been hearing large explosions and seeing scattered plumes of smoke, following at least a dozen air strikes on the international airport, close to an air force base.

Houthi rebels claimed that the coalition launched 57 air strikes on Sanaa and their northern stronghold of Saada, according to the Yemini television channel Al-Masirah.

Despite the fact that there were no official reports of casualties, the rebels announced that a woman and a girl were killed in Saada. Moreover, an undefined number of children were wounded.

“The operation came in response to the threat of the Houthi militia after they launched ballistic missiles as well as drones from the occupied capital Sanaa, as well as Saada,” coalition spokesman Turki al-Maliki told reporters in Riyadh. “The terrorist leaders of the Houthi militia will be pursued and held accountable. Targeting civilians and civilian facilities is a red line.”

The coalition strike effectively ends a unilateral ceasefire it declared in April in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, the Saudi-led coalition forces intercepted and destroyed drones and ballistic missiles launched into the kingdom by the Houthis, including one fired towards the capital Riyadh.

At Maliki’s press conference, Saudi officials for once more displayed remnants of intercepted missiles and drones which they claimed were supplied by Iran to Yemen’s Houthi rebels. As always, Iran has denied these claims.

The crisis in Yemen has been escalating after the Saudi-led coalition intervened to support Yemen’s internationally-recognized government, which bares Sunni affiliations.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed and millions displaced in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Source: thedefensepost.com

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