The Yemeni army says it has launched a fresh drone strike on a major airbase in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Asir in retaliation for the kingdom’s military aggression and blockade against the impoverished country.
Army troops and allied fighters from Popular Committees hit designated targets inside the King Khalid Airbase near the city of Khamis Mushait in the early hours of Sunday, army spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced on his Twitter page.
نفذ سلاح الجو المسير عملية هجومية على قاعدة الملك خالد الجوية بخميس مشيط بطائرة مسيرة نوع قاصف 2K فجر اليوم وكانت الإصابة دقيقة بفضل الله.
— العميد يحيى سريع (@army21ye) May 9, 2021
يأتي هذا الاستهدافي إطار ردنا الطبيعي والمشروع على تصعيد العدوان والحصار المتواصل على بلدنا العزيز.
The media bureau of Yemen's Ansarullah movement quoted Saree as saying that the retaliatory attack was carried out by a domestically-developed Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drone.
The strike, he said, was “accurate” and a “legitimate response” to the continuing aggression and brutal siege on his country.
On May 3, Yemeni forces targeted the same airbase and military installations at Najran Airport in southwest Saudi Arabia with four Qasef-2K drones as well as two Badr ballistic missiles.
Saree noted that the strikes were accurate, and came in retaliation for the Saudi-led military campaign and blockade against Yemen.
On Saturday evening, Saudi warplanes launched eleven airstrikes against the Sirwah district in the central Yemeni province of Ma’rib, but no reports of casualties and damage were quickly available.
Saudi fighter jets also bombed the Medghal district in the same province on two occasions.
Moreover, forces of the Saudi-led military coalition and their mercenaries repeatedly violated a ceasefire agreement between warring sides for the western coastal province of Hudaydah.
An unnamed source in Yemen’s Liaison and Coordination Officers Operations Room said the violations included seven counts of artillery shelling and 21 shooting incidents.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the US and other regional allies, launched a devastating war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing Ansarullah.
Yemeni armed forces and allied Popular Committees have, however, gone from strength to strength against the Saudi-led invaders, and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
The Saudi-led military aggression has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions of people. It has also destroyed Yemen's infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases across the country.