At least four people have been killed after a Saudi-led airstrike hit a radio station in Yemen’s western province of Hudaydah, a report says.
Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported on Sunday that at least four employees of the al-Maraweah radio station had lost their lives after warplanes of the Saudi-led military coalition hit its building earlier in the day.
The airstrike was conducted as officials of the United Nations engaged in a shuttle diplomacy to arrange a resumption of peace talks between the warring sides, the Houthi Ansarullah movement and the so-called government of former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.
Saudi Arabia and some of its allies, including the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan, launched a brutal war, code-named Operation Decisive Storm, against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall Hadi and crush the Ansarullah movement, which plays a significant role in aiding the Yemeni army in defending the impoverished country against the invading coalition.
The movement has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective administration since the onset of the imposed war.
The imposed war initially consisted of a bombing campaign, but was later coupled with a naval blockade and the deployment of ground forces to Yemen. Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression.
Backed by Saudi-led airstrikes, Emirati forces and militants loyal to Hadi launched the Hudaydah offensive on June 13 despite international warnings that it would compound the impoverished nation’s humanitarian crisis as the country traditionally imported 90 percent of its food, mainly through the port.
The coalition of aggressors has, however, failed to make any major gains in the face of stiff resistance from Houthi fighters and their allied forces.
The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations has said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.
Several Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply the Riyadh regime with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.