A bomb laden F-15S taking off for a mission in Yemen.
Early on February 18, warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition carried out two airstrikes on the district of Bani Matar in the southwestern part of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.
The coalition claimed in a statement that the airstrikes destroyed a drone control center of the Houthis (Ansar Allah), who control Sanaa and its surroundings.
However, the target of the coalition’s airstrikes turned out to be an explosive ordnance disposal site run by the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre. In a statement, the center said that one of the site’s guards was killed as a result of the airstrikes.
Less than 12 hours after the airstrikes on Sanaa, the Saudi-led coalition announced that its warplanes had targeted a destroyed a booby-trapped boat of the Houthis in the southern part of the Red Sea.
In a statement, the coalition claimed that the water-borne improvised explosive device (WBIED) was launched by the Houthis from al-Hudaydah port on the western coast of Yemen.
“The Houthis’ military use of al-Hudaydah port threatens freedom of navigation and global trade,” the statement reads.
The Houthis have been targeting Saudi-led coalition warships with remotely-controlled WBIEDs for the last few years. In 2017, the Conflict Armament Research (CAR) revealed that Iranian components were used in these makeshift anti-shipping weapons.
The Saudi-led coalition’s recent airstrikes may provoke a response the Houthis, who can attack targets in Saudi Arabia with drones or missiles.
Here is an article that looks at the very high human cost of the war in Yemen:
https://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-high-human-cost-of-war-in-yemen.html
In large part, the blame for this suffering of Yemen’s civilians must be laid at the feet of the decision makers from both parties in Washington who repeatedly find themselves siding with Saudi Arabia, a nation well known for its human rights abuses.
“The Houthis’ military use of al-Hudaydah port threatens freedom of navigation and global trade,” the statement reads.
*Insert J. Jonah Jameson laughing*