Riyadh: The Arab coalition in Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia, on Saturday announced that more than 150 Houthis killed in the coalition airstrikes within 24 hours in Yemen’s central province of Marib.
“Fourteen military vehicles were destroyed and more than 157 Houthis elements were eliminated “in the latest raids, the coalition said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The air strikes targeted two regions of oil-rich Marib province, Al-Jawf in the north and the south’s Al-Bayda, said the statement, as well as Sirwah, west of Marib city.
The coalition, which supports the internationally recognized Yemeni government, has reported near-daily strikes over the past month against the Iran-backed Houthis, each time incurring significant losses.
More than 2,000 Houthis have been killed in the Saudi-led airstrikes in conflict-ridden Yemen since October 11, 2021.
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition said it had intercepted and destroyed a drone targeting Saudi Arabia’s Abha airport on Saturday, SPA reported.
“We are dealing with the sources of threat to protect civilians and civilian objects from hostile attacks,” the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen said on Twitter.
The attack was condemned by the Arab Parliament, which stated that it “confirms the terrorist nature of the Houthi militia, which continues to commit war crimes by targeting civilians and civilian facilities and threatening the lives of travellers, citizens, residents, and others from different nationalities who use the airport”.
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen
In February 2021, the Iran-backed Houthi militia launched a major attack on Ma’rib in an attempt to seize the governorate, the last northern stronghold of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.
The conflict in Yemen is between a government-backed by the Saudi-led military coalition since 2015, and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have controlled large areas in the north and west of the country, as well as the capital, Sanaa, since 2014.
The conflict resulted in the killing of tens of thousands of people, including many civilians, according to several humanitarian organizations.