Sana’a launches large-scale missile, drone operation against Saudi-backed forces in Yemen

Sana'a has carried out a large-scale missile and drone operation targeting gathering points and military camps of Saudi-backed mercenaries in the provinces of Marib and Hadramawt, the spokesperson for Yemen's Armed Forces says. 

Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement on Thursday that the operation was launched after Yemeni forces monitored extensive military movements and troop concentrations by Saudi-backed forces, which were preparing to launch an offensive against areas under Ansarallah's control.

According to the statement, military positions in the areas of al-Ruwaik, al-Abr, al-Thaniyah, as well as several camps belonging to the so-called "First Brigade" and "Third Readiness Brigade," were struck with multiple ballistic missiles and drones.

Saree said the operation left hundreds of Saudi-backed forces dead or injured.

He also said several military camps, weapons depots, troop assembly points, and military vehicles in the al-Wadiah area in eastern Yemen were destroyed.

The statement warned Saudi Arabia that any new military action would be met with a reciprocal response.

The Yemeni Armed Forces also called on Yemeni forces aligned with Riyadh to withdraw from their positions before any new confrontation.

Mohammed Shouka, a member of Ansarallah's Political Bureau, said the operation was a preemptive measure carried out after monitoring preparations by Saudi forces and their allies to launch an attack on Sana'a.

Prior to the release of the statement, media reports said that at least 30 members of the Saudi mercenaries were killed in missile strikes on military camps in the provinces of Marib and Hadramawt.

Yemen says it targeted Saudi oil tanker for violating maritime blockade

Yemen

The latest development comes amid heightened tensions between Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

The escalation follows Saudi airstrikes on Sana’a International Airport last month to halt humanitarian flights carrying patients and stranded civilians.

In response, Yemeni forces struck Saudi Arabia’s Abha International Airport with ballistic missiles and drones. They also announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia to end the 12-year Saudi-led siege.

President of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council Mahdi al-Mashat has said the only path to ending the ongoing hostilities and establishing peace is an unconditional halt to Saudi Arabia’s blockade and aggression against the Arab country.

“Should the aggression persist and the siege is not lifted, any dialogue and agreement will be nothing but an illusion and a mirage,” Mashat warned recently.

Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies imposed the blockade on Yemen as part of a full-scale military campaign launched on March 26, 2015, with military, political, and logistical backing from the United States and other Western countries.

The war went on to result in the deaths of tens of thousands of Yemenis, but failed to achieve its stated objective of restoring Yemen’s former Riyadh-backed regime to power.

The former regime had fled the country amid political uncertainty, after which Ansarullah, Yemen’s popular resistance movement, assumed responsibility for administering state affairs.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday that the appointment of Major General Abdullah al-Shehri as commander of the Multinational Maritime Defense Alliance to “secure freedom of navigation” in the Red Sea.

The Yemeni Armed Forces announced on Wednesday that it had struck the Saudi oil tanker Wafa with ballistic missiles off Yanbu in the northern Red Sea – the eighth Saudi tanker targeted since the blockade began on 22 July. Another 29 tankers have turned back from the Bab el-Mandab Strait.

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