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Saudi Forces and Yemen's Houthis Trade Heavy Fire, Haradh Border Crossing Hit By the Exchange

May 24, 2015 

 

People stand by part of a Saudi fighter jet found in Bani Harith district north of Yemen's capital Sanaa May 24, 2015.	Houthi fighters in Yemen, file, May 24, 2015

 

Saudi forces and Yemen's Houthis trade heavy fire, border crossing hit

May 24, 2015

CAIRO, Reuters

Saudi forces and Yemen's Houthi militia traded heavy artillery fire which destroyed part of the main border crossing between the two countries overnight, residents said on Sunday, an escalation of the two-month war.

The Haradh border crossing, the largest for people and goods between the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, and its impoverished neighbor, was evacuated amid shelling which razed its departure lounge and passport section, witnesses said.

Residents of several Yemeni villages in the area left their homes and fled from the frontier, which has turned into a front line between the kingdom and the Iran-allied rebels.

Arab air raids hit military bases and weapons stores in the capital Sanaa and local officials said a mid-level Houthi commander, Abu Bassam al-Kibsi, was killed in an air strike in the central province of Raymah.

Saudi Arabia has led an Arab coalition bombing the Houthis and backing southern Yemeni fighters opposing the group and loyal to the exiled government in Saudi Arabia headed by President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

The Sunni Muslim states believe the Shi'ite Houthis are a proxy for influence by their arch rival Iran, but their campaign has yet to reverse the rebels' battlefield gains.

Local fighters combating the Houthis in Yemen's south reported Saudi-led air strikes on a major air base controlled by the group in Lahj province and say they killed eight Houthi fighters in an ambush in Dalea province on Sunday.

Residents in the central city of Taiz said Houthi forces and pro-Hadi fighters fired tank and artillery shells at each other throughout the city overnight, killing five civilians.

The Houthis seized control of a military base on a strategic mountaintop in the center of the city, eyewitnesses said.

A United Nations-backed peace conference set for May 28 in Geneva remains in doubt, as Hadi's exiled government in Saudi Arabia has expressed reluctance to attend before the Houthis recognize their authority and quit Yemen's main cities.

The Houthis have demanded a ceasefire before any talks.

(Reporting by Mohammed Ghobari; Writing by Noah Browning; Editing by Robert Birsel and Raissa Kasolowsky)

 

80 Missiles Hit Saudi Border Guard Headquarters in Jizan

Sun May 24, 2015 2:25

TEHRAN (FNA)-

More than 80 rockets hit Saudi border guard headquarters in the country's Southwestern Jizan province, Yemen's state TV announced.

According to the TV, the Yemeni tribal troops carried out a major offensive against Saudi army posts in al-Tawal region and targeted their positions with at least 80 rockets.

Large groups of Saudi forces were killed during the heavy shelling. The tribesmen also shelled an arms depot during the bombardments.

The operation came in retaliation for the continuing Saudi airstrikes on the Yemeni people, the reports added.

Cross-border skirmishes between the Saudi troops and Yemeni tribes have flared up over the last eight weeks, as the monarchy's airstrikes continue and have so far claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, particularly at border areas.

Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen in the last 60 days to bring its ally, fugitive president Mansour Hadi, back to power.

The airstrikes have killed, at least, 3,897 Yemenis, according to FNA's independent tally.

According to a recent report by Freedom House Foundation, most of the victims of the deadly Al Saud campaign are civilians, including a large number of women and children.

 

Airstrikes, including misdirected ones, continue in Yemen   *  

Yemen Post, May 23, 2015

Saudi-led airstrikes against the Houthi militants have continued  in a number of Yemeni cities including the capital Sanaa, Aden, Abyan and Taiz coinciding with confrontations between the Houthis and pro-government fighters.   

In Sanaa, fighter jets from the Arab coalition targeted Houthi weapon depots and military camps in several areas including the Aiban and Noqom Mountains.

The fresh airstrikes were the heaviest since the Arab military operation was launched against the Houthis on March 26 following the ouster of the transition president and government.

The coalition resumed the airstrikes in the country after a five-day humanitarian ceasefire ending May17.

In Aden, a misdirected airstrike killed and injured 8 pro-government resistance fighters on Friday, the second mistake in ten days, sources told the Yemen Post.

The airstrike targeted a position of the pro-government resistance in the Alosaimi area on the Aden airport road, the sources said, while adding that the resistance was angered mistakes of the Arab coalition.  

Many civilians have been killed and injured in misdirected airstrikes and airstrikes targeting Houthi-controlled weapon depots in populated areas in main cities. Most of the casualties occurred after targeted weapons exploded at homes and streets.

More than 1800 people have been killed, 7.000 others injured and hundreds of thousands of families displaced due to escalating violence since March, according to the World Health Organization.  

On Thursday, an airstrike targeted a school near a fuel station on the 60th Street killing some of drivers who were queuing and waiting for their turns to fill their cars with fuels, an eyewitness said.

Clashes continue in Aden 

Fierce clashes between pro-government fighters and Houthi militants continued on Saturday in Yemen's port city of Aden a day after the popular resistance advanced on key frontlines, local sources said.

The Houthi militants stationed on the Soulaban Mountain shelled the resistance after its fighters tried to advance on the road linking the Mansoura and Khour Maksar districts, they said.

There were casualties from both sides but no statistics were given, they added, coinciding with warnings of persistent aggravation of the humanitarian situation in conflict areas including Aden.

Organizations repeated warnings the situation is still catastrophic as millions of people are in need for emergency medical help and food.

Battles between the pro-government forces and popular resistance from one side and the Houthi militants and forces loyal to the former president have been continuing for months.

They broke out after the Houthi militants with support from the former president had ousted the transition president and government.

Thousands of people including many civilians have been killed and injured and hundreds of thousands of families have been displaced due  to the violence.  

Moreover, the country has been facing the worst lacks of supplies especially fuels, foods and medicines. The lacks are also blamed on a blockade on all Yemeni ports which was imposed by Arab countries as part of the military operation against the Houthi militants.

The operation was launched on March 26.

 

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