Saudi Arabia intensifies bombardment campaign against Yemen, hits civilian areas in Sana’a

Saudi Arabia has launched a new round of overnight airstrikes on several residential neighborhoods across the capital Sana’a, as the regime intensifies its bombardment campaign against its southern neighbor.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Saudi fighter jets targeted Asr district, which lies on the western suburb of Sana’a, for three times, damaging several residential buildings.

The sources added that the aerial attacks sent panic-stricken locals into the streets. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Lebanese al-Mayadeen television news network also reported that powerful explosions rocked southern districts of the Yemeni capital, shattering windows and damaging structures, as Saudi air strikes targeted some sites there. 

The airstrikes came after Spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that Yemeni army forces and their allied fighters from Popular Committees had struck critical and sensitive targets deep inside Saudi Arabia with three homegrown ballistic missiles.

Yemen hits 'sensitive' Saudi sites, vows more 'painful' retaliation

Yemen

Report: Saudi Arabia, UAE preparing to hand over Yemeni province to Qaeda

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are leading a devastating military campaign and brutal siege against Yemen, are reportedly making preparations to hand over the control of the country’s southeastern province of Shabwah to al-Qaeda terrorists.

Yemeni military sources, who preferred not to be named, told Yemen News Portal website that the Saudi-led coalition is seeking to transfer several militant brigades, which include groups from Salafist and al-Qaeda-linked groups, to Shabwah.

The sources added that the Riyadh regime had ordered Major General Ibrahim Haydan, Yemen's interior minister in the administration of fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, to direct pro-Hadi forces in neighboring Abyan Province to facilitate the passage of Salafisit militants and members of the al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorist group to the oil-producing region.

Saudi fighter jets bomb residential areas, sports complex in Yemen’s Sana’a

Saudi warplanes attack the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a, targeting residential buildings and civilian facilities overnight.

Meanwhile, Hadi has dismissed Shabwah provincial governor, Mohammed Saleh bin Adeow, clearing the way for the handover of the province to al-Qaeda Takfiri terrorists.

With no explanation for the decision, Hadi fired bin Adeow and appointed Mohammed Abdullah al-Awlaki as the new governor, Yemeni media outlets reported.

The outlets added that the new Shabwah provincial governor was being staunchly supported by the UAE, and had lived in the Persian Gulf state’s capital city of Abu Dhabi for several years.

Informed sources said bin Adeow and his forces were fiercely opposed to the presence of Emirati armed forces in Shabwah, and had even besieged them in the industrial port town of Balhaf.

Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing popular Ansarullah resistance movement.

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The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead, and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemen’s infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.

Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.

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