Rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the shootings against neighboring Saudi Arabia on Sunday and threatened the country with further attacks, amid increased violence on Yemeni soil.
Saudi Arabia is at the head of a military coalition that supports the Yemeni government in the war it has been waging since 2014 against the Houthi rebels supported by Iran, the great regional rival of the Saudi kingdom.
Saudi air defense forces thwarted a missile attack on Riyadh on Saturday and intercepted drones launched by the Houthis against the south of the kingdom, authorities said.
Fragments of the missile fell in several areas of the capital, damaging at least one house, but without causing any casualties, according to Saudi public television Al-Ekhbariya.
“The operation was carried out with a ballistic missile and 15 drones,” said Houthi spokesman Yahya al-Saree, quoted by the Al-Massirah rebel channel in Sana’a. It “targeted sensitive areas of the enemy capital Ryad” and “military targets in Abha and in the garrison town of Khamis Mushait” (south).
“Our operations will continue as long as the aggression and the siege of our country continue,” warned the spokesman, warning residents of the southern region of the kingdom, bordering Yemen, to move away “from any site or airport. military”.
The UK condemns “the latest Houthi missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia and Marib,” British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab tweeted on Sunday. “They put innocent lives at risk and show those responsible are not serious about peace, let alone protecting the Yemeni people.”
– Formulas E –
The Houthis attack coincided with the holding in a suburb of Riyadh of the Formula E championship. On Saturday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman took part in a stage of this championship according to state media.
It was the crown prince’s first public appearance since the United States accused him on Friday of having “validated” the 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
In recent weeks, the Houthis have stepped up attacks against the Saudi kingdom and intensified fighting against government forces in the oil province of Marib in northern Yemen.
After a sharp drop in fighting for months, the rebels left on February 8 to assault Marib, the last loyalist stronghold in the north, located 120 km east of the capital Sanaa.
At least 50 fighters died in fierce clashes on Saturday. The day before, the fighting had already killed 60 people, according to government sources.
Loyalist forces are assisted by the Saudi Air Force, which is bombing Houthi positions to prevent them from advancing into Marib.
Further west, in the rebel-held key town of Hodeidah, five civilians including a child were killed on Sunday when a shell fell on their house. The belligerents accuse each other of being responsible for this attack.
– Donors’ conference Monday –
The United Nations expressed concern last month about an upsurge in fighting in the Hodeida region, through which most of the country’s food imports and humanitarian aid pass.
The escalation of violence comes at a time when the US administration of Joe Biden seeks to re-launch political dialogue to resolve the conflict.
The latter has decided to end his support for Riyadh in this war and to remove the Houthis from the list of “terrorist organizations” so as not to hinder, according to him, the delivery of humanitarian aid in the territories they control.
The conflict in Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, was sparked in 2014 by a massive offensive by the Houthis who seized large swathes of the territory, including the capital they still control.
The war has plunged the country into the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, and claimed tens of thousands of lives, according to NGOs, not to mention millions of displaced people and a population on the brink of famine.
A donor conference organized by the UN on Monday will try to raise 3.19 billion euros in aid for the Yemeni people.
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