RIYADH: Saudi-led Coalition forces have raided two caves being used by the Houthi militia in Yemen’s capital Sanaa to hide drones, the military alliance’s spokesman said on Sunday.
“The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition has conducted a military operation tonight to destroy two legitimate military targets; consisting of two caves used by the Houthi militia to store UAVs, and use them in terrorist operations,” Coalition spokesman Colonel Turki Al-Malki said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
He said the raid was an extension of previous military operations in January and February that targeted the Iran-backed militia’s drone network and capabilities and locations of foreign fighters helping the Houthis.
Al-Malki said the military operation was “in accordance with the customary international humanitarian law” and that “all precautionary measures and necessary action” were taken to spare civilians and avoid collateral damage.
The statement did not specify if the attacks were air strikes or by ground forces.
Earlier, Al-Arabiya TV reported raids on Houthi camps in Sanaa, including the Al-Dailami air base.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Coalition-backed Yemeni government and the Houthis reached a cease-fire and troop pullout deal for Hodeidah, the main entry point for most of Yemen’s imports and aid, at talks in Sweden in December. The pact was the first big breakthrough in efforts to end Yemen’s four-year war.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, which pits the Houthis against other Yemeni factions backed by the Saudi-led coalition and loyal to the government of Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The Houthis ousted Hadi’s government from power in Sanaa in late 2014.
(With Reuters)
