20 killed as Saudi jets launch new airstrikes in Yemen

At least 20 people have lost their lives and many others sustained injuries in a number of Saudi airstrikes against residential neighborhoods across Yemen.

On Wednesday morning, Saudi military aircraft pounded al-Rawdah Village and the Nihm district in the western-central Yemeni province of Sana’a in addition to an area close to a military academy in the capital, Sana’a, leaving four people dead and scores of others injured, Yemen’s al-Masirah television network reported.

Sixteen people, mostly women and children, also lost their lives and a number of others were wounded when Saudi warplanes pounded houses in the Sahan district of Yemen’s northwestern mountainous province of Sa’ada.

Later in the day, Saudi jets launched an aerial attack against a gas station in the northwestern city of Hajjah, located 127 kilometers (78 miles) northwest of Sana’a. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the extent of damage caused. The Mustaba district in Hajjah Province was also hit, though no reports of casualties were available.

Separately, seven people were injured in an airstrike against a courthouse in Yemen’s northwestern province of Amran.

The developments came a day after Saudi aircraft hit a parking lot in the Mafraq al-Shara’b district of the southwestern Yemeni province of Ta’izz, killing 16 civilians and injuring 10 others.

Moreover, Yemeni soldiers, backed by fighters from Popular Committees, on Tuesday launched a barrage of rockets at two camps belonging to militiamen loyal to Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned as Yemen’s president, in the Thaabat area and al-Wazi’iyah district of Ta’izz Province, leaving an unspecified number of pro-Riyadh gunmen dead and injured.

Saudi Arabia has pounded Yemen almost daily since March 2015. The United Nations (UN) announced on Tuesday that at least 10,000 people have been killed in the war so far.

Saudi Arabia launched the war to put Hadi, who is a Saudi ally, back in power.

The Houthi fighters and allied army units have been fighting back the Saudi invaders and their mercenaries.

Jubeir pokes a nose again

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has said that the Houthi Ansarullah movement would not be allowed to “take over” Yemen.

“What is certain — not questionable, certain — they (the Houthis) will not be allowed to take over Yemen. Period. So the legitimate government will be defended,” Adel al-Jubeir said, in reference to the government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who has resigned as Yemen’s president but seeks to grab power again by force.

He was speaking in the Chinese capital of Beijing on Wednesday.

The meddling remarks by Jubeir come as the Ansarullah movement and allied political factions, including that of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, recently formed a political body to run the country. The Yemeni allies are now involved in efforts to win international recognition for the body, which is known as the Supreme Political Council.

Ansarullah initially took over state matters when Hadi resigned and fled to Saudi Arabia. Yemeni people have considered him a traitor to his own country ever since and deem him disqualified to rejoin the political system.

In earlier remarks in Beijing, Jubeir accused Iran of backing the Houthis, a favorite claim of the Saudis in an attempt to justify their war of aggression on Yemen.

The Islamic Republic and the Houthis have strongly denied the allegations as baseless.

Saleh, the former Yemeni president now allied with the Houthis, recently rejected the anti-Iran claims, too.

Speaking on August 21, Saleh said Saudi Arabia has launched the war on Yemen under the pretext of defending Saudi national security against Iran, emphasizing that the pretext is “baseless.”

“Iran has no presence in Yemen at all,” he said, adding that, “The international intelligence services know that Iran is not present in Yemen.”

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