Saudi-led coalition bombards Yemen capital, despite ceasefire call

Saudi-led coalition bombards Yemen capital, despite ceasefire call
More than 30 air strikes hit Sanaa overnight on Thursday, despite suggestions from the Saudi-backed Yemen government it was ready for peace talks.
2 min read
02 November, 2018
Saudi forces bombarded Yemen's capital Sanaa [File photo: AP]
The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen bombed an airbase in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, despite indications from the Saudi-backed government it was ready for peace talks.

"This operation includes targeting of ballistic-missile launch and storage locations... bomb-making and assembly workshops and their support locations in Al-Dailami Airbase in Sanaa," coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki said in a statement.

He added that the adjoining Sanaa international airport was still open to air traffic from the United Nations and other relief agencies.

Calling the attacked structures "legitimate military targets", Malki said he will provide "evidence" of violations by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels later on Friday.

Al-Masirah TV, which is controlled by the Houthis, said more than 30 air strikes targeted al-Dailami and the surrounding areas.

Yemeni freelance journalist Ahmad Algohbary reported on Twitter that Sanaa was struck more than 34 times in 45 minutes.

Meanwhile coalition forces amassed at the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, where fighting broke out early on Friday in a southern district, residents and military sources told Reuters.


The escalation comes a day after the Yemeni government said it welcomed "all efforts to restore peace" following calls an unprecedented call from the US for Saudi Arabia to halt the strikes.

The UN's envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths also called for warring parties to come to the table "within a month".

Washington, a close Saudi ally, backs coalition forces by refuelling their jets and selling them weapons.

Saudi Arabia's regional role has come under scrutiny after the killing in its Istanbul consulate last month of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a former royal court insider-turned-critic and a columnist for the Washington Post.

Saudi Arabia and its allies entered the war in 2015 to bolster Yemen's internationally recognised President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after the Houthis took over Sanaa.

Since the intervention, nearly 10,000 civilians have been killed, according to the World Health Organization, however rights groups estimate the toll could be five times higher.

On Thursday, the UN's children's agency UNICEF said seven million children faced the threat of famine and that ending the war was not enough to save all of them.