Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have launched a missile strike, targeting arms depots belonging to Saudi-sponsored militants loyal to Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi south of the country’s central province of Ma’rib.
Local sources, requesting not to be named, told Yemen’s al-Khabar al-Yemeni news website that troops and their allies had fired two ballistic missiles at weapons storehouses in an area of the al-Abdiyah district.
The sources said the strike caused massive explosions, which lasted for nearly half an hour.
There are some reports that a senior pro-Hadi military commander, identified as Abdullah Sultan, was killed in the attack.
The development came only a few days after Yemeni army forces fired a domestically-designed short-range ballistic missile at a position of Saudi-backed militants in Ma’rib province.
Military sources told Yemen News Portal website that massive explosions had been heard on Thursday evening as the missile hit an arms deport inside al-Khashina base south of the al-Juba district.
Al-Khashina is said to be one of the major bases of Saudi-backed militants in Ma’rib, and serves as the headquarters of the 26th Brigade of pro-Hadi forces.
‘Saudi-led coalition adamant to hurt Yemeni nation’
A top Yemeni energy official on Saturday denounced the continued seizure of fuel tanker ships bound for his country, stating that the practice reflects the Saudi-led military coalition’s resolve to prolong the suffering of the Yemeni nation.
The executive director of the Yemeni Petroleum Company, Ammar al-Adrai, said the ship GT Freedom had been detained for 275 days, and those demurrage fees already amounted to 5.5 million dollars.
He added that the vessel had undergone inspection by the United Nations and obtained the relevant documents to dock at the Yemeni port of Hudaydah.
Adrai said the arbitrary seizure of fuel vessels off the coast of Yemen has exorbitantly driven up fines, and deprived Yemenis of acquiring basic commodities.
The official called on the international community and all freedom-loving people to show solidarity with the Yemeni nation and pressure the Saudi-led coalition of aggression into releasing the ships to avert a humanitarian disaster in Yemen.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases.
Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees, however, have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
