The Saudi-led military coalition fighting Yemen’s Houthi movement has said it carried out airstrikes on Houthi military targets in Sanaa and other regions after the group launched armed drones. invasion of Saudi Arabia.
“Army action is focused on Houthi military capabilities in Sanaa and several other areas,” the coalition said in a statement made by Saudi state media on Sunday.
The coalition, which said it destroyed 10 armed drones, described “civilians and civilian objects in the kingdom as a red line”.
It did not specify locations where drones were targeting. The U.S. consulate in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah issued a consultation, citing reports of suspected attacks and explosions near Jeddah and the southern city of Khamis Mushait. The Houthis did not immediately appeal for the attacks.
Sources told Al Jazeera that the coalition’s airstrikes took “Houthi military bases in the capital, Sanaa,” including the al-Seyana base.
A witness told the Reuters news agency of several airstrikes. Lumps of black smoke were visible near an army building near the University of Sanaa. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that coalition warplanes had launched a “series of airstrikes” on al-Nahda and Attan areas.
The coalition says it was targeting Houthi military capabilities in Sanaa [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters]Fighting in a marib
The Houthis, which has been fighting the coalition since its involvement in the Yemeni civil war in March 2015, recently launched cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia while they go up an offense to capture the last stronghold of Marib’s government. Fighting has also intensified on the ground in the Taiz area.
The rise comes as the U.S. and the United Nations step up increasing diplomatic efforts for a ceasefire to pave the way for a resumption of political talks backed by the UN to end the conflict.
Saudi state media reported on Sunday that the coalition claimed the Houthis had been handed down after the new U.S. administration rejected Washington’s designation of the Houthis as a “terrorist” group in February.
The designation, which was delayed in the administration of former US President Donald Trump, was widely criticized by aid agencies, which warned it would hamper their efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. .
Last week, the Treasury imposed sanctions on two Houthi military leaders after the group attacked Saudi cities while continuing their attack in Marib, in. whether hundreds of fighters were killed.
On Saturday, Yemeni government sources said strong fighting between government forces and rebels in Marib had killed at least 90 militants on both sides over 24 hours. The fighting also left dozens of people injured, the sources added.
Donation pledges fall short
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday urged the Houthis to stop their offending in Marib, as he announced $ 191m in support at a donors conference.
“Aid alone will not end the conflict.” We can only end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen by ending the war… and so the United States is renewing our diplomatic efforts to end the war, ”he said.
The United Nations had tried to raise $ 3.85bn from more than 100 governments and donors, but only $ 1.7bn had been pledged.
The loss of Marib would be a major blow to an internationally recognized government in Yemen, but it would also threaten a catastrophe for civilians, including hundreds of thousands of abstract people taking refuge there. their deserted camps in the surrounding wilderness.
Years of bombing have failed to hold the rebels on Sanaa, and have expanded their reach in the north of the country.
U.S. President Joe Biden has stopped backing Saudi offensive work in the Yemeni war, which he called a “catastrophe” that needs to end. But it also reaffirmed U.S. support for Saudi Arabia in defending its borders.
Riyadh and its allies say they are fighting to restore Yemeni government rule, with President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and ousted from power after the capital’s Houthis take over at the end of 2014.
The Houthis say they are fighting a corrupt system and a foreign attack.
The war, in years of military ceasefire, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to death.