Saudis hit Yemen with scores of airstrikes
The Saudi-led coalition has once again targeted the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and it’s wider province, with scores of airstrikes on residential neighborhoods.
Other provinces around the country have been attacked as well with two communications towers targeted.
A similar attack last week on a communications facility in the strategic port city of Hodeidah left dozens of casualties including three children dead.
The attack, along with another in Sa’ada city that left hundreds of casualties, sparked international condemnation and caused an internet outage across Yemen.
After several days, internet services have largely been restored. According to the communications ministry services have returned to all provinces after initial repairs.
Yemen’s deputy foreign minister has praised efforts to repair the damage.
Meanwhile, the head of the national delegation, Muhammad Abd al-Salam has stressed that "the countries of aggression are mistaken in considering their security while continuing to launch their aggression and siege on the Republic of Yemen, killing civilians and destroying civilian facilities."
He reiterated that “It is noteworthy that the head of the national delegation stressed in a previous statement that as long as the aggression against us continues, we will continue to respond, stressing that if the UAE decides not to be targeted, it should not target others”.
Yemeni officials accuse the United Arab Emirates of backing “mercenaries” in Southern Yemen who have been wreaking havoc in the country’s south with a separatist agenda.
Yemen has warned Abu Dhabi to back out of the Saudi-led coalition.
Over the past week, Yemeni forces have carried out two military operations against the United Arab Emirates dubbed “Yemen Storm one” and “Yemen Storm two” striking targets deep inside the UAE including the capital Abu Dhabi and its commercial hub Dubai for the Emirati increasing participation in the war.
At one point, Abu Dhabi announced it would withdraw support for the coalition and Yemeni forces refrained from targeting the UAE. Over the past months two m, Yemeni officials accused the UAE of resuming its role in the coalition.
Yemeni forces have also retaliated against Saudi Arabia in response to a very sharp uptick in air raids by the Saudis across Yemen, with the latest retaliation targeting an industrial zone in the Kingdom’s south.
The operations in both countries were conducted with missiles and drones causing significant damage.
According to the United Nations, since the war on Yemen began in 2015, around 300,000 people have been killed from violence and preventable diseases.
However, monitoring groups say the figure is much higher (with the majority of deaths being women and children) as the UN stopped keeping count of the death toll for several years acknowledging it was impossible to do so.
Yemeni officials say that since the beginning of January this year, attacks by the Saudi-led coalition have killed at least 150 people.
According to the UN, the country has become the world’s worst humanitarian disaster, with millions in the verge of starvation.
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