Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Saudi-led coalition said it had attacked a Houthi rebel camp in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, Sunday (12/26/2021).
The attack on the Houthi rebel camp was because this group continued to intensify its aerial bombing because it supported Iran.
The Saudi coalition, which supports the Yemeni government in its offensive against the Houthis, is said to have destroyed an armory in the rebel-held capital.
“The operation in Sanaa is a direct response to attempts to transfer weapons from the Al-Tashrifat camp in Sanaa,” he said in a statement.
The Saudi coalition is scheduled to hold a press conference on Sunday local time. They said they would show evidence of the involvement of the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia in the Yemen conflict.
Saudi Arabia has long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with advanced weapons and its Hezbollah representative training the rebels. However, the Islamic republic has denied these accusations.
Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war since 2014 that pits the government against the Houthis, who control much of the north.
Tens of thousands of people have died in what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
According to Saudi authorities, the coalition launched a large-scale military operation after missiles fired by rebels killed two people in the kingdom. The victim who killed the two people was the first death in three years.
The airstrike killed three civilians, including a child and a woman, Yemeni medics told AFP.
The coalition maintains its operations are conducted in accordance with international humanitarian law, repeatedly urging the Houthis not to use civilians as human shields.
The Saudi ambassador to Yemen, Mohammed Al Jaber, alleged that the rebels used Iranian weapons to attack the kingdom, likening the Houthis to forces like Hezbollah in the backyard.
“Using Iranian weapons launched from Yemen, the Huthi militia killed two civilians. […] This is another criminal and terrorist act,” he tweeted on Saturday.
The Houthi attack was also condemned by the French and US embassies in Saudi, as well as the kingdom’s Gulf Arab allies.
“The Houthi attacks perpetuate the conflict, prolong the suffering of the Yemeni people, and endanger the Saudi people along with the more than 70,000 US citizens living in Saudi Arabia,” the US embassy said in a statement Saturday.
French Ambassador Ludovic Pouille tweeted his condolences to the families of the victims of what he called the ‘Houthi Barbarian Attack’.
The coalition has intensified air strikes on Sanaa targeted earlier this week, whose operations have been largely halted due to the Saudi-led blockade since August 2016, with the exception of relief flights.
The rebels frequently launch missiles and drones at Saudi Arabia aimed at its airport and oil infrastructure.
The United Nations estimates the Yemen war will claim 377,000 lives by the end of this year. The World Food Organization (WFP) has said it was forced to reduce aid to Yemen due to a lack of funds, and warned of a spike in hunger in the country. More than 80% of Yemen’s population of around 30 million is in need of humanitarian assistance.
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