SANAA: Yemen’s Ansar Allah fighters on Sunday claimed the attempted strikes that targeted neighbouring Saudi Arabia overnight and threatened more attacks, as fighting in the grinding civil war escalates. The fighters have intensified operations against the kingdom as air strikes by the Saudi-led military coalition pound fighter positions in the north of Yemen, in a bid to stop their offensive to seize the government’s last northern stronghold of Marib.
Years of war have already pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it thwarted an Ansar Allah missile that targeted Riyadh.
“The operation was carried out with a ballistic missile and 15 drones... targeting sensitive
areas in the enemy’s capital of Riyadh,” said Ansar Allah spokesman Yahya al Saree, according to the fighters’ Al-Masirah TV channel.
“Our operations will continue and will expand as long as the aggression and seige on our country continues.”
Fragments of the missile scattered over several Riyadh neighbourhoods, damaging at least one home but no casualties were reported, Saudi’s state-run Al-Ekhbariya television said.
AFP correspondents in the Saudi capital reported hearing multiple loud explosions, with state television footage showing the night sky light up with a bright flash.
Separately, the coalition said it had intercepted six Ansar Allah drones targeting the kingdom, including the southern cities of Khamis Mushait and Jizan.
Saree on Sunday claimed those attacks as well, warning residents in the region to “stay clear from all military airports and sites.”
‘CATASTROPHE’
The Ansar Allah fighters have escalated cross-border attacks on the kingdom even after the United States delisted them as terrorists, reversing a decision by the administration of former president Donald Trump. The designation had been widely criticised by aid organisations, who warned it would hamper their efforts to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in Yemen. On Sunday, in the latest violence in Yemen, five civilians including a child were killed when their home was destroyed in a bombardment near the strategic fighter-held Red Sea port of Hodeida. — AFP
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