The Saudi-led coalition launched several airstrikes against a number of Houthi sites in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, on Friday, according to Saudi official television.
The coalition aeroplanes targeted alleged “militia positions belonging to terrorist groups,” Saudi television reported. The TV also clarified that the airstrikes targeted military sites of Houthis and their air-defence systems.
The airstrikes came a few days after the Houthi’s missile attack on Abha airport in Saudi Arabia last week which wounded around 26 people according to Saudi authorities. The Al-Masirah TV, a television station run by the Houthi movement, confirmed last week’s attack.
Earlier on Friday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the Houthi’s attack on Abha airport is “an apparent war crime.” It called on the Houthis to “immediately stop all attacks on civilian infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.”
The HRW also added that “unlawful Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen never justify Houthi attacks on Saudi civilians.”
In 2015, Saudi Arabia, which supports the embattled Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi’s government against Houthi rebels, intervened in the Yemeni conflict to prevent the fall of Hadi.
Saudi and the UAE-led Coalition, backed by the United States, including Bahrain and Kuwait, have launched hundreds of strikes in Yemen, killing thousands of Yemeni people including civilians.
According to the UN Human Rights office, over 16,000 civilians have been killed since the war began, most of them by the coalition’s airstrikes. Additionally, over 80% of the population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance.
