Saudi-led coalition launches airstrikes on Houthis-controlled camps in Sanaa: Report

The Saudi-led military coalition on Thursday, 18 November, launched multiple airstrikes on military camps controlled by the Houthi militia in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. According to Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, the airstrikes hit Dhahban and Al-Nahdayn camps in northern and southern Sanaa. It is to mention that the latest attack came hours after the Saudi owned Al-Arabiya TV reported that the coalition intercepted a bomb-laden drone aimed at Saudi Arabia’s Abha International airport. 

The airstrike also comes amid a time when the Iran-backed Houthi militia has intensified cross-border missile and drone attacks. Back in February, the rebel group had begun a major offensive against the Saudi-backed government army in a bid to capture the oil-rich province of Marib in central Yemen, which is the Yemeni government’s final foothold in the north. Yemen has been ripped apart by civil war ever since the Houthis seized control of the capital city, Sanaa, and parts of the country's northern region in 2014, forcing the internationally known government to flee to the south and eventually to Saudi Arabia. 

Yemeni crisis 

In 2015, the Saudi-led alliance, with US assistance, commenced the fight against Houthis in an effort to restore the government to power. It is to mention that the ongoing violence in the Middle-Eastern country has caused the death of over 100,000 individuals and led to the world's largest humanitarian catastrophe, with 20 million people in need of relief. Earlier this month, more than 150 Houthi rebels were also killed in air raids conducted by the Saudi-led military coalition around the Marib region. The latter had launched an offensive on the rivals across 14 districts in Marib, in which additional hundreds of rebel Houthis were also injured.

The airstrikes targeted two regions of oil-rich Marib province, Al-Jawf in the north and the south's Al-Bayda, as well as Sirwah, west of Marib city. Saudi Arabia intensified the military offensive against the Houthis after the rebel forces launched a major push to seize the city, making advances. Officials told Saudi state news agency SPA, on condition of anonymity, that the Houthi rebel forces"kidnapped, imprisoned and abused" members of the Yemeni community who were in support of the pro-government forces.

(IMAGE: AP)