Four Yemeni missiles hit Saudi mercenaries in Asir

Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah news website, citing a spokesman for the Yemeni army, reported that Yemeni missile defense units targeted areas near Abwab al-Hadeed with Zelzal-1 (Earthquake-1) missiles on Monday afternoon.

It added that the missiles successfully hit their designated targets.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni army troops, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, carried out a similar offensive in al-Taval crossing in Saudi Arabia’s southern province of Jizan, al-Masirah said.

On Sunday, Yemeni forces launched an attack on King Khalid Air Base near the city of Khamis Mushait in Asir, using domestically-developed Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) drones.

Yemeni forces regularly target positions inside the Arab kingdom in retaliation for assaults by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia, which started its campaign against Yemen in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall a former regime and eliminate the Houthi Ansarullah movement, which has been defending the country along with the armed forces.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.

The campaign has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The United Nations has warned that more than 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.