Yemeni Forces Hit Saudi Mercenaries With Ballistic Missile

Date: 13 December 2019 - 22:15

News ID: ۷۳۸۶۵

SANAA (Dispatches) – Yemeni forces have launched a ballistic missile at a gathering of Saudi mercenaries in Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf in retaliation for airstrikes by the kingdom, the army says.
The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said Yemeni soldiers and allied fighters hit the gathering with a domestically-developed and medium-range Qassem (Raider) ballistic missile on Thursday afternoon.
The missile hit the designated target with high precision and its explosion either killed or wounded dozens of mercenaries, the Arabic-language al-Masirah television network further quoted the general as saying.
Saree said Yemeni forces also managed to completely block the advances of Saudi mercenaries, who attempted for at least 16 hours under intense air cover.
Yemeni forces regularly target positions both inside Saudi Arabia and Yemen in retaliation for airstrikes by the kingdom.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing a former government back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.
The Saudi-led coalition, which has been waging a brutal military campaign against Yemen since 2015, has been preventing more than a dozen ships from unloading critical fuel and food supplies at Red Sea port of Hudaydah.
The Yemeni Petroleum Company (YPC)’s spokesman Amin al-Shabati told Arabic-language al-Masirah television on Thursday that at least 13 vessels carrying basic goods were waiting for several weeks to gain access to the strategic port.
The vessels were being seized despite the fact that they had undergone inspection by the United Nations and obtained the relevant papers, he added.
Al-Shabati further explained that eight of seized ships were carrying energy derivatives, while the five others contained food destined for the conflict-plagued and impoverished Arab country.
Last month, a Yemeni maritime official said the Saudi-led coalition had impounded more than a dozen ships, which had been marooned at the port of Jizan in southwestern Saudi Arabia.
The Yemeni Petroleum Company announced in a recent statement that Saudi Arabia adamantly was refusing to allow tankers to sail towards Yemen and offload their consignments there.
Hudaydah, a lifeline for millions of Yemenis, has seen some of the heaviest fighting in the four-year Saudi aggression against the impoverished nation.