Yemen Strikes Hit Saudi Depth as Cluster Bombs Used in Dhamar
SANA’A -- Yemen’s Ansarullah movement said Friday it will continue retaliatory operations against Saudi Arabia until the kingdom halts its airstrikes and lifts its blockade, after a week of intensified cross-border attacks and ground clashes that saw its forces repel Saudi-backed mercenary advances in the country’s north.
In a message to foreign ministers of Islamic countries ahead of an Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Baghdad, Yemeni Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulwahid Abu Ras said Sana’a has adopted a policy of “blockade for blockade and escalation for escalation” in response to more than 274,302 airstrikes since March 2015 and a recent escalation that began with an attack on Sana’a airport on July 13.
Abu Ras said Saudi Arabia has conducted more than 2,350 airstrikes and missile attacks since the resumption of military aggression, killing 107 people and injuring 278 across 13 provinces, with more than 60 percent of casualties being women and children.
Yemen’s Health Ministry, citing the Al-Masirah network, reported 114 civilians killed and 305 wounded since September 3.
Ansarullah forces launched coordinated attacks on Saudi territory during the past 48 hours, targeting Riyadh, the Red Sea industrial city of Yanbu, and southern border regions.
Ansarullah’s military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said Yemeni forces had struck the Maashiq presidential palace in Aden on Thursday, describing it as a Saudi military operations command center.
Officials of the Saudi-backed fugitive regime said five people were killed and 16 wounded in the attack, which occurred while the regime’s so-called prime minister Shaye al-Zindani was chairing a cabinet meeting.
Saree also stated that Ansarullah had fired three ballistic missiles at Saudi mercenaries, causing numerous casualties, adding the kidnapped had conducted more than 65 airstrikes on Sana’a and six other provinces in 24 hours. On Friday evening, Ansarullah said Saudi Arabia used cluster bombs in an airstrike on Dhamar province that killed three and wounded nine.
On the ground, Ansarullah reported significant casualties among Saudi-backed mercenary forces. Saree said in a statement earlier this month that more than 200 Saudi-aligned mercenaries were killed or wounded in strikes on their mobilizations in the Ras al-Arah and al-Suqya areas, describing the losses as “unprecedented” in previous confrontations.
In the al-Jawf and Marib axes, Saree said dozens of strikes targeted Saudi-backed gatherings east of al-Jawf province and east of Raghwan in Marib, resulting in large numbers of dead and wounded and the burning of vehicles. The spokesman said Ansarullah-led Yemeni forces maintained control over all their field gains and dismissed enemy claims as “illusory heroics”.
Fighting also intensified in Ta’izz province, southwest of Sana’a, with clashes concentrated in the al-Dhabab area, the main southwestern entrance to Ta’izz city.
Abu Ras said Saudi Arabia recently formed a military alliance against Sana’a to involve other parties in the war, adding Riyadh had withdrawn from a roadmap agreement reached through Omani mediation. He reiterated that Sanaa’s hand remains extended for an “honorable and sustainable peace”.
Saree warned in a separate statement that Saudi airspace and airports remain “unsafe” except for Mecca and Medina, saying Yemeni forces have repeatedly warned airlines and are capable of “reciprocal response” to Saudi military aggression. He denied claims that Medina had been targeted.