Saudi-led coalition launches deadly air raids in Yemen’s Sanaa
Residents say some 14 people were killed in the Yemeni capital a day after a suspected Houthi attack killed three people in the UAE.
The Saudi-led coalition has carried out air raids in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, killing more than 12 people, according to residents, a day after the Houthi rebel group launched a deadly attack in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Saudi Arabia and the UAE intervened in Yemen’s war in 2015 to restore the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who fled after Houthi rebels took over the capital and parts of northern Yemen in late 2014.
The UAE largely scaled down its military presence in the country in 2019 but continues to hold sway through the Yemeni forces it arms and trains.
Early on Tuesday, the coalition said it had begun air raids against strongholds and camps in Sanaa belonging to the Iran-aligned Houthi group, according to Saudi state media.
The attack that killed about 14 people, according to initial estimates, hit the home of a former military official, Reuters reported.
It killed him, his wife, his 25-year-old son, other family members and some unidentified people, a medical source and residents told Reuters.
‘Right to respond’
But the Houthi group, which claimed Monday’s attack, said about 20 people were killed. Coalition attacks around the city had killed a total of about 20 people, the Houthi’s deputy foreign minister said on Twitter.
Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said attacks had damaged homes, killed at least a dozen people, and injured about a dozen more.
The UAE said it reserved the right to respond to “terrorist attacks and criminal escalation”. Two Indians and a Pakistani working for UAE oil giant ADNOC died in the Houthi attack that ignited fire near Abu Dhabi’s airport.
