Al-Anad, drones and Houthi missiles on pro-government base leave 30 dead and 60 wounded
The structure is about 70 km north of Aden. Several wounded are in serious condition and the toll is likely to worsen. The condolences of President Hadi to the families of the victims. Peace talks at a standstill, with the parties unable to reach a compromise.
Sana'a (AsiaNews/Agencies) - At least 30 people were killed and more than 60 wounded in an attack launched yesterday morning by Houthi rebels against a structure of the pro-government army in southern Yemen. A spokesman for the southern forces says that the target of the operation is the air base of al-Anad, where are stationed soldiers of the Saudi-led Arab coalition in the war against the pro-Tehran Shiite militias. Houthi militiamen hit the military facility with missiles and armed drones.
A soldier reports that the attack happened shortly after breakfast, when the military spotted a drone flying overhead. "WWe tried to fire at it and bring it down, but we couldn't hit it," he told AFP news agency. "The craft flew over and headed directly towards the hangar, where it fired two missiles." Another soldier wounded in the attack, Nasser Saeed, told The Associated Press that there were more than 50 soldiers inside a compound.
Mohammed al-Naqeeb, a spokesman for government forces in the south, reports that several wounded are in critical condition and the death toll could rise in the coming days. Rescue teams are busy digging through the rubble looking for survivors in the area of al-Anad, about seventy kilometers north of Aden.
President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and promised that the Houthis will pay "heavily for all the crimes committed against the people of Yemen". The raid came at a time of stalemate in peace talks between the international coalition backed by the UN and the United States and Houthi proxies, with the parties unable to reach a compromise. At the center of the negotiations the end of the blockade to the ports controlled by the Shiite rebels and to the airport of Sana'a, in exchange for a truce in the fighting.
The war in Yemen broke out in 2014 pitting the Saudi-backed government and Iranian-supported Shia Houthi rebels.
In March 2015 the conflict escalated when Saudi Arabia decided to get directly involved, resulting in more than 10,000 dead 55,000 wounded. However, independent observers put the death toll for the period between January 2016 and July 2018 at about 57,000.
For the United Nations, the war is “worst humanitarian crisis in the world”, aggravated by the “devastating” COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is such that millions people are close to famine with children expected to suffer consequences for the next 20 years.
In recent days, dozens of activists had staged a bicycle ride for peace.
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