The Yemeni army has released more details of its latest retaliatory operations against Saudi Arabia dubbed ‘Breaking the Siege’, and other similar military actions, emphasizing continuation of such operations until the Riyadh regime stops its aggression against Yemen.
Army spokesman Yahya Saree made the remarks in a press conference aired live from the capital Sana’a on Monday.
Saree said despite relentless aerial and artillery attacks by the Saudi-led coalition and its mercenaries, Yemeni people have remained resilient over the past years of war.
“The Yemeni army will continue its reprisal attacks against Saudi Arabia until Riyadh stops its war of aggression.”
“The Saudi-led coalition says it wants peace but conducts further attacks on civilians,” the Yemeni spokesman said, adding that the enemy “targets residential areas in Yemen.”
On the enemy’s casualty count, Saree said the Yemeni forces had killed and wounded about “20,000 people fighting for the Saudi-led coalition, including more than 10,000 Saudi soldiers, and more than 1,200 Emirati soldiers.”
“The Yemeni army has conducted a considerable number of missile strikes and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE),” he added.
Saree said of the missile strikes, which totaled over 1,800, at least 1,200 targeted enemy gatherings inside Yemen and nearly 600 had landed on the Saudi and Emirati territory.
“We succeeded in damaging more than 17,000 vehicles, armored vehicles, personnel carriers, tanks, bulldozers and various weapons, most of which are documented by video and audio,” he said.
“The Yemeni army is prepared to face the enemies’ threats,” Saree stated.
“We are not Yemen of surrender. We are Yemen of freedom.”
On Sunday, the spokesman announced a new round of retaliatory attacks against Saudi Arabia. He said the armed forces planned to carry out “special military operations” against sensitive targets that “the criminal enemy [would] never think of” in order to break the unjust siege.
The statement of the armed forces regarding the 3rd Siege-Breaking operation. pic.twitter.com/n6qGuxES4K
— Yahya Sare'e (@Yahya_Saree) March 21, 2022
The Saudi-led coalition has ramped up its airstrikes against various regions across Yemen, tightening the siege and preventing the entry of fuel tankers. In response, the Yemeni armed forces have concluded three ‘Yemen Storm’ operations against the Saudi and Emirati territories with ballistic missiles and drones.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies — including the UAE — launched the war on Yemen in March 2015. It was meant to eliminate Yemen’s Ansarullah movement and reinstall a former regime. The conflict, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals, but has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people.
The Saudi-led coalition has been preventing fuel shipments from reaching Yemen, while looting the impoverished nation’s resources.
The UN says more than 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger. The world body has also labeled the situation in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on March 16 that nearly four million Yemenis in major cities may now lose access to safe drinking water in the coming weeks.
The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.