Saudi-led coalition airstrikes avenge Houthi attack on UAE, more than a dozen killed in Yemeni capital
UAE is Saudi Arabia's partner in the coalition. The coalition also said it intercepted eight drones launched toward Saudi Arabia on Monday.
FollowThe Saudi-led coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi insurgents launched airstrikes on Tuesday that killed at least 14 people, after the group claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on the United Arab Emirates. The two airstrikes came in rapid succession just after 9 pm (local time) on Monday, leveling a two-story family home in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital.
As per The Washington Post, the strike on Sanaa killed Brigadier General Abdullah Qassem al-Junaid, former chief of the air force academy in Sanaa, as well as his wife, son, and five other members in the family. The alliance announced it has started air attacks targeting Houthi bases and camps in Sanaa early Tuesday, according to Saudi official media.
Coalition strikes around the city overnight killed a total of about 20 people, the deputy foreign minister for the Houthi administration, which holds much of northern Yemen, said on Twitter.
Though the strike was described by Saudi media as a blow against the Houthi command structure after the movement’s brazen strike on the UAE earlier that day, for many in the rubble of the shattered buildings, it was just another day of lives lost in the grinding proxy war tearing the country apart and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
UAE is Saudi Arabia's partner in the coalition. The coalition also said it intercepted eight drones launched toward Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Near Abu Dhabi international airport, three gasoline tanker trunks exploded, along with other incidents that resulted in a fire at the airport. Among the three deceased, two were Indians.
But Monday's attack by the Houthis was the first deadly assault on Emirati soil acknowledged by the UAE and claimed by the rebels, who said they had fired ballistic missiles and deployed armed drones.
In response, the UAE said it reserved the right to respond to “terrorist attacks and criminal escalation.”
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation all condemned the ‘terrorist’ attack. Other countries, such as the US, Russia and France, as well as the UN have also condemned the attack on Emirati soil.
