A Saudi Arabian-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on the capital and a strategic Red Sea city, officials said yesterday.
At least seven people were killed.
The overnight airstrikes on Sana’a and Hodeida — which are held by the Houthis — came a day after the rebels attacked an oil depot in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, their highest-profile assault yet on the kingdom.
Photo: AFP
Brigadier General Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the coalition, said that its strikes targeted “sources of threat” to Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The coalition intercepted and destroyed two explosives-laden drones early yesterday, al-Malki said.
The drones were launched from Houthi-held civilian oil facilities in Hodeida, he said, adding that civilians should stay away from oil facilities in the city.
Photo: Reuters
Footage circulated online showed flames and plumes of smoke over Sana’a and Hodeida.
Houthi officials said that the coalition airstrikes hit a power plant, a fuel supply station and the state-run social insurance office in the capital.
A Houthi media office said that an airstrike hit houses for guards of the social insurance office, killing at least seven people and wounding three others, including women and children.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The office shared images it said showed the aftermath of the airstrike.
It showed wreckage in the courtyard of a social insurance office with the shattered windows of a nearby multiple-story building.
In Hodeida, the Houthi media office said the coalition hit oil facilities in contravention of a 2018 ceasefire deal that ended months of fighting in Hodeida, which handles about 70 percent of Yemen’s commercial and humanitarian imports.
The strikes also hit the nearby Port Salif, also on the Red Sea.
The Houthis’ attack of Friday came ahead of a Formula One race in the kingdom today, raising concerns about Saudi Arabia’s ability to defend itself against the Iranian-backed rebels.
Friday’s attack targeted the same fuel depot that the Houthis had attacked in recent days — the North Jeddah Bulk Plant, which is southeast of the city’s international airport.
Al-Malki said that a fire at the oil facility in Jeddah damaged two tanks and was put out without injuries.
“This hostile escalation targets oil facilities and aims to undermine energy security and the backbone of global economy,” al-Malki said. “These hostile attacks had no impact or repercussions in any way, shape or form on public life in Jeddah.”
Formula One organizers said that its race in Saudi Arabia would go ahead as scheduled.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
‘FALLACY’: Xi’s assertions that Taiwan was given to the PRC after WWII confused right and wrong, and were contrary to the facts, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday called Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) claim that China historically has sovereignty over Taiwan “deceptive” and “contrary to the facts.” In an article published on Wednesday in the Russian state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Xi said that this year not only marks 80 years since the end of World War II and the founding of the UN, but also “Taiwan’s restoration to China.” “A series of instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration have affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan,” Xi wrote. “The historical and legal fact” of these documents, as well
RSS