Saudi warplanes pound several areas across crisis-hit Yemen

Saudi military aircraft have carried out a new round of attacks against several areas across Yemen as Riyadh presses ahead with its military campaign against the impoverished Arab country.

On Wednesday morning, Saudi fighter jets launched seven airstrikes against two areas in Baqim district of the northwestern Yemeni province of Sa’ada, inflicting considerable damage on the region, Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported.

There were no immediate reports of possible casualties in the aerial assaults.

Saudi warplanes also pounded Dhahyan district in the same Yemeni province four times, though no reports of possible casualties were immediately available.

Moreover, Saudi jets bombarded various areas across Sana’a Province, but no fatalities were reported.

Saudi military aircraft also hit Balaq district in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib early on Wednesday.

The developments came only hours after Saudi warplanes carried out six airborne attacks on residential buildings in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz, situated 260 kilometers (166 miles) south of the capital, Sana'a. No reports of fatalities were immediately available.

Also on Tuesday, 11 people were killed and many more injured when Saudi military aircraft bombarded Mukayras town in Yemen’s central province of al-Bayda.

Moreover, one civilian was killed and nine others sustained injuries when Saudi warplanes struck a number of areas in the southwestern Yemeni province of Taiz.   

Saudi jets also pounded a popular market in the city of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the capital, Sana’a, leaving four civilians dead and 15 others injured.

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported on Tuesday that nearly 100 civilians have been killed and about 130 more injured in Saudi Arabia's airstrikes against Taiz over the past two weeks.

“We are alarmed by the steep increase in the number of civil casualties in Taiz in recent weeks,” Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for OHCHR said.

The UN official also warned that there are concerns regarding the near collapse of the healthcare system in Taiz, where all six public hospitals are no longer operational due to fighting in the vicinity.

Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to the country’s fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

Nearly 4,500 people have been killed in the Yemeni conflict, the World Health Organization said on August 11. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk