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Saudi Arabia pounds major airport in western Yemen

Monday, 01 February 2016 5:42 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 01 February 2016 5:43 PM ]

Yemenis inspect the damage at the Queen Arwa University following a Saudi airstrike in the capital Sana'a, on January 30, 2016. (AFP photo)

Saudi Arabia has carried out several rounds of airstrikes on a civilian airport west of Yemen as it seeks to cut off the impoverished nation from the outside world.

Yemeni's al-Masirah TV said on Monday that Saudi warplanes pounded the port city of al-Hudaydah’s international airport, inflicting huge losses on the facility.

The attack is the latest in a series of operations by Riyadh to destroy Yemen’s civilian infrastructure including the channels it can use for receiving humanitarian aid it badly needs.

Yemen has been under a deadly siege over the past 10 months as Saudis continue to attack areas across the country in a bid to undermine the ruling Ansarullah movement and allied military units. The air campaign, which has killed more than 8,300 people since it was unleashed late March last year, is meant to restore power to fugitive firmer president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Saudi warplanes on Monday targeted residential areas in northern provinces of Sa’ada, Hajjah and Ma’rib, with no immediate information available on the casualties. The harshest attacks have been reported in a market in Sa’ada where three days of incessant airstrikes have inflicted huge damage on civilian properties while a major health facility has also been destroyed in the area.

A woman and her little girl were also killed Monday when Saudis bombarded the district of Mara’an in Sa’ada.

In response to the Saudi airstrikes, Ansarullah and allies launched attacks on pro-Saudi militants operating inside Yemen with reports suggesting that a number of the mercenaries were killed after the allied forces pushed them back from two key neighborhoods of the southern city of Ta’izz. A similar operation was launched in the northern Jawf Province.

Attacks were also launched on military positions south of Saudi Arabia, with military officials saying several Saudi soldiers were killed in a rocket attack on their position in the province of Jizan. Yemenis also destroyed one tank, two armored vehicles and seven military vehicles in attacks on Jizan and neighboring Asir regions.

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

www.presstv.co.uk