New combat drone used in airstrike against Saudi mercenaries: Yemeni Army

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces says army troopers and allied fighters from Popular Committees made use of a new domestically-developed combat drone in their air raid against Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi at an air base in the country’s southwestern province of Lahij.

Speaking during a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Thursday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Yemeni soldiers and their allies had attacked Saudi mercenaries at al-Anad Air Base with a Qasef K2 (Striker K2) drone.

He added that the new drone could strike its designated targets from 20 meters away, and that it could carry a large payload of explosive materials.

Saree further noted that dozens of high-ranking Saudi-paid militiamen were killed or injured in the aerial attack, noting that the injured mercenaries were transported by helicopter to Aden German International Hospital in the port city of Aden.

He pointed out that Saudi mercenaries were now in a state of panic and terror as a result of the high-precision military operation, stressing that their commanders would no longer be able to escape unscathed if they continued to serve the aggressors.

Yemeni snipers shoot dead nine Saudi mercenaries

Meanwhile, at least nine Saudi-backed militiamen have been killed when Yemeni army soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees launched separate attacks in Saudi Arabia’s southern border region of Jizan as well as the northern Yemeni province of al-Jawf.

The media bureau of Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement said Yemeni forces and their allies fatally shot five Saudi mercenaries in the Wadi Jarrah area of the region, located 966 kilometers south of the Saudi capital Riyadh on Thursday evening.

Two other Saudi-sponsored militiamen were killed when Yemeni forces targeted them east of the mountainous Jabal al-Doud district.

Elsewhere in the Khabb and Sha'af district of Jawf province, Yemeni sharpshooters killed two Saudi-backed militiamen.

Also on Thursday, Yemeni army soldiers and fighters from Popular Committees carried out offensives against the positions of Saudi mercenaries in the Tabishia’a area of Yemen’s southern coastal province of Ta’izz, killing and injuring scores of the Saudi-paid militiamen in the process.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing the country’s Houthi Ansarullah movement.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of around 56,000 Yemenis.

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said that a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of 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.

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