Amid Houthi militias’ escalation in Yemen’s Marib and Shabwah provinces, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition conducted a series of airstrikes on Thursday against military sites in the insurgency-controlled Sanaa.
The Coalition warned Houthis that more comprehensive operations would target them should the Iran-backed group continue to attack civilians and infrastructure.
These developments came in the wake of a statement by the UN Security Council condemning Houthi cross-border attacks against Saudi Arabia. The Council also decried attacks on civilian and commercial ships threatening maritime security in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
Arab Coalition spokesperson Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said the Coalition launched airstrikes on several military locations in Sanaa believed to host explosive-laden drones and ballistic missiles, thus “foiling deadly attacks” on civilian targets inside and outside Yemen.
Al-Maliki said the airstrikes were launched in response to Houthi attacks on Saudi airports, power stations, and other public infrastructure.
“If the Houthi militia continues with its grave violations of targeting civilians, civilian objects, and infrastructure, the militia should brace for broader and more comprehensive airstrikes in accordance with international humanitarian law,” Al-Maliki said in a statement.
“Over the past months, the joint forces of the coalition have exercised the highest degree of restraint in the face of massive humanitarian violations and deliberate and systematic brutal hostilities by the Iranian-backed militia, with the aim of supporting international efforts and initiatives to reach a comprehensive and sustainable political solution in Yemen,” Col. Turki al-Maliki, the spokesman for the Arab Coalition said on Thursday.
Al-Maliki said the military operation that was launched in Sanaa was “in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules, and took into account preventive measures to spare civilians any collateral damage.”
