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Operation 'Decisive Storm' | Saudi lead coalition operations in Yemen - Updates & Discussions.

Air strikes in Yemen damage homes | World news | The Guardian

Air strikes in Yemen damage homes
Windows blown out in latest attack on weapons base on mountain overlooking the capital Sana’a



Smoke rises during a previous air strike on an army weapons depot on a mountain overlooking Yemen’s capital, Sana’a. Photograph: Khaled Abdullah/Reuters


Saudi-led air strikes on weapons caches in Yemen’s rebel-held capital have caused massive explosions that shattered windows, sent residents scrambling for shelter and killed a local TV presenter.

A TV station run by the rebels in Sana’a said 15 people were killed and dozens wounded in the bombing but those figures could not immediately be confirmed.

The explosions were the most powerful seen in the city since a Saudi-led air campaign against Iran-allied Shia rebels, known as Houthis, began last month. The blasts deposited a layer of soot on the top floors of residential buildings in Sana’a and left the streets littered with glass. Anti-aircraft fire rattled across the city in response.

Mushroom clouds rose over Fag Atan, in the mountainous outskirts of Sana’a, where the capital’s largest weapons caches are located. The site has been targeted several times in the Saudi-led air campaign, now in its fourth week.

A Yemeni official said the Saudi-led warplanes were demolishing parts of the mountain, hoping to uncover and destroy Scud missiles. About four miles away from Fag Atan, cars were damaged and charred, shop fronts were shattered and the windows were blown out of office buildings.

The Houthis’ TV network al-Masirah said 15 people died and that Mohammed Shamsan, a TV presenter for another network, was among those killed. It said members of his crew were wounded. Ambulances were rushing to the site of the explosions, and al-Masirah aired a statement by health authorities calling on citizens to donate blood.

Residents posted videos and pictures of the explosions, and the damage they had caused, on social media. “The hanging ceiling and chandelier fell because of the explosions,” one, Mohammed Mohsen, said.


Saudi Arabia and several of its allies, mainly Gulf Arab countries, launched the air strikes on 26 March, hoping to roll back the rebels, who seized Sana’a in September and have overrun large parts of the country with the help of security forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Western governments and Sunni Arab countries say the Houthis get arms from Iran. Iran and the rebels deny that, though the Islamic republic has provided political and humanitarian support to the group.

Rebel leader Abdul-Malek al-Houthi struck a defiant tone on Sunday, saying that “the great Yemeni people will never surrender and never be subjugated”.

Meanwhile, fighting intensified in the southern port city of Aden, where the Houthis and Saleh loyalists are battling youth militias and forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled the country last month in the face of the Houthi advance.

The Houthis and their allies have been trying to take over Aden for weeks. On Monday, heavy fighting broke out near the airport and in the central al-Arish district between the rebels and local armed groups formed by residents to defend their neighbourhoods, witnesses said.

Air strikes targeted a hotel in Aden suspected of being used by the Houthis and allied forces. There was no word on casualties.

In remarks published in his newspaper, Yemen Today, the ousted Saleh denied striking an alliance with the Houthis or that the rebels are in full control of the army. “We discussed the alliance after the Saudi assault on our country, and it has not materialised so far,” Saleh said.

He also pledged to “be positive” in dealing with a UN security council resolution adopted last Tuesday calling on Yemen’s rivals to end the violence and return to UN-led peace talks.

The security council resolution makes no mention of the Saudi-led air strikes but imposes an arms embargo on three leaders of the Shia rebel group, as well as on Saleh and his son. It also demands that the Houthis withdraw from areas they have seized, including Sana’a, and relinquish arms and missiles seized from military and security institutions.
 
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Leader of Houthi rebels in Yemen vows not to surrender - CNN.com

Houthi leader in Yemen: 'Anyone who thinks we will surrender is dreaming'

(CNN)The leader of Yemen's Houthi rebels vowed not to back down on Sunday as a top Saudi military official claimed weeks of airstrikes had significantly weakened the Shiite group.

"Our fighters will not evacuate from the main cities or the government institutions," rebel leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised address. "Anyone who thinks we will surrender is dreaming."

His comments came after more than three weeks of Saudi-led coalition bombingsaimed at pushing back the Houthis, who surged into the capital of Sanaa in January and ousted President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi from power. Hadi still claims he's Yemen's legitimate leader and is working with the Saudis and other allies to return to his country.

Since mid-March, more than 700 people have been killed in violence that shows no sign of slowing, according to figures from the World Health Organization.

The Houthis say they have the support of the country's people behind them.


"It's the right of the Yemeni people to stand against the attacks in all possible means as long as the attacks continue," Al-Houthi said Sunday. "After our people move and react against the attacks and killing of children and women, we do not want to hear any voices and cries."

But there are signs of some fracturing among forces loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, many of whom have fought alongside the rebels.

Gen. AbdulRahman AlHalili, who leads more than 10,000 troops, has now allied himself with Hadi, military sources said Sunday.

Meanwhile, Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said Sunday that airstrikes had decimated the Houthis' central command by targeting their communications. The rebels, he said, are now holding a defensive stance in besieged areas.

Since it began the campaign known as Operation Decisive Storm on March 26, the Saudi-led coalition has launched 2,300 airstrikes, Asiri said.
 
GULF OF ADEN (April 18, 2015) Sailors and Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) participate in a swim call. Iwo Jima is the flagship for the Amphibious Ready Group and, with the embarked 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU), provides a versatile, sea-based expeditionary force that can be tailored to a variety of missions in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Megan Anuci/Released)
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That's Halal beer, we're on a Pakistani forum after all. :cheers:

okay mate , take a look at that picture again , that bomb certainly wasn't made in saudi arabia , better be a persian terrorist than an american puppet :)
 
okay mate , take a look at that picture again , that bomb certainly wasn't made in saudi arabia , better be a persian terrorist than an american puppet :)
Better have American capitalist friends than Russian and North korean atheists backward ones.

:usflag::usflag::usflag:

Oh sorry, I thought your Russian friends were gonna sell you S-300s, what happend? :omghaha:

I take that back, better have any friend than have none at all.
 
Better have American capitalist friends than Russian atheists backward ones.

:usflag::usflag::usflag:

I hope you enjoy it in america , and have more beer , cause no one knows , maybe tomorrow you'll have an islamic revolution in your country ...
 
Gen. AbdulRahman AlHalili, who leads more than 10,000 troops, has now allied himself with Hadi, military sources said Sunday.

Meanwhile, Saudi Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said Sunday that airstrikes had decimated the Houthis' central command by targeting their communications. The rebels, he said, are now holding a defensive stance in besieged areas.


Baghdad Bob Asiri. No one cares what he says. :laugh: Try send troops into Yemen you cowards.
 
Baghdad Bob Asiri. No one cares what he says. :laugh: Try send troops into Yemen you cowards.

They are scared to move in. They know that they are cowards and have no guts to fight. That is why they begged Pakistan to go in. But when Pakistan refused to play cannon fodder, now they are stuck with it. They do not know how to save face now.
 
Baghdad Bob Asiri. No one cares what he says. :laugh: Try send troops into Yemen you cowards.
We operate a strategic war, you barbarians with barbarian equipment (Qaher and photoshopped missiles) won't understand. :omghaha: Go get stuck in Iraq and Syria for 10 years with your Iranian shitty war strategy who can't even do airstrikes because the only planes they own are Qaher and some stolen Iraqi planes. Even the Kuwait and UAE are stronger than your army.
 
We operate a strategic war, you barbarians with barbarian equipment (Qaher and photoshopped missiles) won't understand. :omghaha: Go get stuck in Iraq and Syria for 10 years with your Iranian shitty war strategy who can't even do airstrikes because the only planes they own are Qaher and some stolen Iraqi planes. Even the Kuwait and UAE are stronger than your army.

Iran and her barbarian army like you say , can overrun UAE , and kuwait in 2 minutes , only there's america to take into consideration , you really think Rafaels and tornadoes can save you from a massive invasion mounted by a neighbor 50x your size?
 
Oxfam condemns Saudi Arabia targeting of facility in Yemen | Middle East

#YemenCrisis

Despite providing details of location by Oxfam, Saudi Arabia directs airstrikes on aid facility as humanitarian crisis in Yemen grows

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International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers stand on the tarmac as emergency medical aid is offloaded off a plane in Sanaa on 10 April 10 2015 (AFP)



Oxfam has condemned the Saudi-led coalition’s airstrikes that targeted one of its storage facilities on Saturday in the Saada governorate in northern Yemen.

The charity organisation said that it had shared “detailed information” with the coalition regarding the location of its facilities in the country. No one was killed in the airstrike, but the facility contained humanitarian supplies that helped to bring clean water to people in the area.

This picture shows our warehouse in #Yemen, full of humanitarian aid, after being destroyed by a coalition airstrike pic.twitter.com/98rfzLQCBS

— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) April 20, 2015

Grace Ommer, Oxfam’s country director in Yemen, condemned the targeting.

“This is an absolute outrage, particularly when one considers that we have shared detailed information with the coalition on the locations of our offices and storage facilities,” she said.

“The contents of the warehouse had no military value,” she continued. “It only contained humanitarian supplies associated with our previous work in Saada, bringing clean water to thousands of households.”

Driven by the support of the European Union and the Swiss government, Oxfam’s water programme has built water networks to bring clean water to 70,000 people in the rural communities in Saada. It is estimated that before the coalition campaign of airstrikes began, 10 million people in Yemen were without access to clean water.

Saudi led #OpDecisiveStorm airstrikes target an .Oxfam warehouse in #Yemen containing vital humanitarian aid & water Oxfam Condemns Coalition Bombing of a Warehouse Containing Vital Humanitarian Aid | Oxfam Canada

— نون عربية (@NoonArabia) April 20, 2015

Worrying. Oxfam warehouse bombed by airstrikes despite sharing information of its location with the Coalition. #Yemen Oxfam Condemns Coalition Bombing of a Warehouse Containing Vital Humanitarian Aid | Oxfam Canada

— Emmanuelle Strub (@EmmanuelleMdM) April 20, 2015

Saudi Arabia has not yet commented on the incident, but Brigadier General Ahmed Asseri, the spokesman for the military campaign, has previously said that targets were chosen to avoid civilian casualties, but that the Houthis often store weapons in residential areas.

Relief agencies criticised Saudi Arabia in the first two weeks of the campaign for the difficulty in allowing shipments of aid, including food and medicine, into Yemen.

Over 40 percent of Yemen’s population live in poverty. The country’s humanitarian crisis, which existed before the military campaign began three weeks ago, has only escalated since as a result of a naval blockade aimed at stopping arms flowing to the Houthi group and weeks of fighting.

“[Saturday’s] events demonstrate again that all parties to this conflict are adding to an increasingly dire humanitarian situation on the ground,” Ommer said. “All parties must now find a negotiated peace and allow for humanitarian access.”

Oxfam put the figure of Yemenis who have fled the country since the Saudis began its airstrikes at 100,000.
 

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