Sanaa, January 30: The Saudi air force has reportedly launched seventeen air raids on Houthi fighters in Yemen despite the Houthi leader’s call for a ceasefire.
“Saudi jets launched 17 air raids on various parts of Yemen on Friday night,” the Houthi fighters said in a statement.
“Saudi jets raided Jebel Razih 7 times, Safia 4 times, Tayban 3 times, Qafarah 2 times and al-Malaheet once,” it added.
The statement went on to say that over 148 Saudi rockets were sent to Jazza, al-Malaheet, Shada, Jebel Dhar al-Hamar, al-Minzala, and al-Hasamah. For their part, the Houthi fighters targeted a tank which was trying to withdraw a destroyed tank in Harf Sufyan.
The conflict between the central government in Sana’a and the Houthis of northern Yemen began in 2004 and escalated in August, 2009 when the Yemeni army launched ‘Operation Scorched Earth’.
The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 military coup.
Yemen’s Houthi fighters have accused the Sana’a government of violating their people’s civil rights and undermining them due to pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists. Shias make up approximately half of the overall Yemeni population.
Saudi Arabia launched its ground and aerial attacks against the Houthi fighters after accusing them of killing a Saudi border guard and occupying two border villages on November 3.
The Saudi military says more than 130 of their soldiers have been killed in Yemen, with an unspecified number listed as ‘missing in action.’
The violence has left hundreds dead and thousands more homeless.
The Swiss-based International Committee of the Red Cross says humanitarian conditions in Yemen are at their worst after five months of fighting between the Saudi forces and Houthis.
——-Agencies