The Saudi-led coalition forces said today, Tuesday, that they precisely bombed what they described as legitimate military targets in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, after the Houthi group carried out a "widespread and qualitative offensive operation in the Saudi depth."
In a statement reported by the Saudi Press Agency, the coalition said that it carried out air strikes in and around Sanaa "in response to the threat and hostile behavior of attempts to target civilians," noting that its planes carried out "precise bombing of legitimate military targets in Sanaa."
"The targets included warehouses and workshops for assembling ballistic missiles and drones," the statement said.
The coalition added, "We destroyed sites linked to ballistic missiles and drones inside Sana'a," and "we destroyed mountain caves and secret ballistic missile stores on the outskirts of Sanaa."
Activists broadcast pictures of the raids launched by the coalition aircraft on Houthi sites in the capital, Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia has led a military coalition since 2015 in support of the Yemeni government, which has been locked in a bloody conflict against the Houthis since they seized control of Sanaa and other areas in 2014.
Air raids on Sanaa now pic.twitter.com/7dJ7h7veUM
— ABDULLA.AsanamiAbdullah Alsanami (@abdulla_alsanam) December 7, 2021
Destruction and threat
In a related context, the coalition stated that the Saudi defenses destroyed a ballistic missile fired towards Khamis Mushait, and intercepted a drone in Yemeni airspace.
The coalition forces threatened to "strike with an iron fist" within the framework of international humanitarian law, and to start implementing a large-scale operation against the Houthi group.
For his part, the military spokesman for the Ansar Allah Houthi group, Yahya Saree, said that his group will face escalation with escalation, and will carry out more military operations in response to what he described as the continuation of the aggression and siege.
Saree announced that the group had carried out an operation targeting military and vital sites in Saudi Arabia, and said that among the targets were the Ministry of Defense, King Khalid Airport in Riyadh and Aramco in Jeddah.
And Saudi accounts published on Twitter scenes that they said were clips of repelling and destroying Saudi defenses with long-range missiles launched by the Ansar Allah Houthi group towards the capital, Riyadh.
On Monday evening, the state-run Al-Ekhbariya channel quoted the military coalition as saying that "the Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed two ballistic missiles fired towards Riyadh."
In turn, the official Saudi Press Agency quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Turki Al-Maliki as saying that "the interception operation caused shrapnel to scatter over some residential neighborhoods without causing any damage."
#Coalition: Precise bombing of legitimate military targets in Sanaa.. We ask civilians not to gather or approach the targeted sites, and the operation is in accordance with international humanitarian law and its customary rules #News_Urgent
— Urgent News (@EKH_brk) December 7, 2021
Attacks and Escalation
The Houthis have recently escalated their attacks on airports and oil facilities in cities in southern Saudi Arabia with drones and ballistic missiles, but their attacks have not reached Riyadh since last February.
And last September, a ballistic missile attack wounded two children in Dammam, the oil-rich Eastern Province.
This comes as fighting continues around the city of Ma'rib, the last stronghold of the government in the north of the war-torn country.
The coalition - which has supported the internationally recognized government since 2015 - has announced daily air strikes to stop the Houthis' advance for a month.
The coalition is trying to prevent the Houthis from reaching the city of Marib, and the Houthis have escalated their military operations since February to take control of it.