Strikes targeting Yemen's largest air base killed more than 30 pro-government fighters and injured more than 50 others on Sunday (August 29th) in the warring south of the country, loyal military and medical sources said.
The strikes targeted the Al-Anad base, located 60 kilometers north of the city of Aden, the country's second city and provisional capital of the Yemeni government, at war since 2014 against the Houthi rebels.
"More than 30 people were killed and at least 56 injured" in the attack on Al-Anad, Mohammed al-Naqib, a spokesperson for the loyalist armed forces, told AFP.
This assessment has been confirmed by a medical source.
Mohammed al-Naqib earlier today accused the Houthis of carrying out the attack by launching missiles and firing drones.
The rebels have so far not reacted.
A provisional assessment
The war in Yemen for the past seven years has pitted government forces, backed by a Saudi-led military coalition, against Iran-backed rebels.
The Houthis control a large part of the north of the country, including the capital Sana'a.
Videos obtained by AFP show dozens of people gathered in front of Lahej hospital, in the eponymous province where the attack took place, while ambulances keep arriving to drop off the wounded.
"We have mobilized all the staff, from surgeons to nurses," hospital director Mohsen Murshid told AFP.
"We also know that several bodies are still under the rubble."
Before the war, the Al-Anad base had been used by the US military to track down Al-Qaeda jihadists.
It has been under the control of the Yemeni government since August 2015.
One of the deadliest attacks
In 2019, the Houthis claimed responsibility for a spectacular drone attack targeting this air base, the country's largest, during a loyalist military parade.
At least six people were killed, including a senior intelligence official.
Eleven people were injured, including Deputy Chief of Staff Saleh Zendani, who later succumbed to his injuries.
The attack on Sunday is one of the deadliest - excluding fighting - since December 2020, when the Aden airport where the new unity government had just arrived was targeted.
At least 26 people were killed, including three aid workers and a journalist.
The war in Yemen has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.
It is, according to the UN, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
Some 80% of the 30 million inhabitants, facing increased risks of epidemics and famine, depend on international aid.
As the UN tries to reach a resolution to the conflict, the Houthis demand that the Saudi-led coalition allow the reopening of Sana'a airport before any ceasefire or negotiations.
The new UN envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, is due to take office on September 5.
With AFP
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR