Airstrikes Continue After Saudi Arabia Ends Bombing in Yemen

Saudi soldiers in Najran fire artillery toward the border with Yemen on Tuesday. (AP / Hasan Jamali)

Saudi Arabia’s decision to end its bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen was called into doubt when a new airstrike hit the southern city of Aden just hours after the announcement. Another airstrike occurred in Taiz.

The Guardian reports:

The Saudi defence ministry on Tuesday night announced the end of nearly a month of attacks that saw Yemen’s domestic political chaos becoming enmeshed in regional rivalries. The US and Iran – which Saudi Arabia accuses of arming the rebels – both expressed the hope that the decision would open the way for a negotiated settlement of the conflict. Nearly 950 people have been killed in the past four weeks and a major humanitarian crisis has erupted. …

Saudi Arabia also pledged to continue to take action against Houthis as necessary, saying Operation Renewing Hope – the name for its next phase of its intervention – would focus on rebuilding the country, protecting civilians and supporting evacuation and relief operations while denying the rebels operational movement.

The air strike that hit Aden on Wednesday was targeting tanks being moved into areas that had been liberated earlier, the city’s deputy governor, Nayef Al Bakri, told al-Jazeera. Another air strike was reported after Houthi fighters took over a military base in the central city of Taiz following heavy fighting, residents and a local official told Reuters.

Read more here.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.