US renews aggression on Yemen, targets airbase north of Sanaa

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
13 Jan 2024 06:06
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CNN cites a US official as saying that the latest strike was carried out unilaterally by the United States.

Scenes of the airstrikes against targets in Yemen released by the command of the US-led coalition.

The US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed on Saturday that US forces carried out a strike that targeted an alleged radar site used by the Ansar Allah movement in Yemen.

"This strike was conducted by the USS Carney (DDG 64) using Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and was a follow-on action on a specific military target associated with strikes taken on Jan. 12 designed to degrade the Houthi’s ability to attack maritime vessels, including commercial vessels," Centcom said in a statement on X.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Yemen confirmed early Saturday that airstrikes targeted the vicinity of Sanaa airport and its vicinity north of the Yemeni capital.

Al Mayadeen's bureau chief in Yemen also confirmed that airstrikes or missile strikes targeted the al-Dailami base near Sanaa airport, following Friday's US-UK-led strikes against various areas in Yemen.

CNN cited a US official as saying that "the latest strike was carried out unilaterally by the United States," adding that "the additional strikes carried out Friday night (Eastern Time) were much smaller in scope than the previous night."

Commenting on the renewed aggression on Yemen, military expert Brigadier General Abed al-Thawr told Al Mayadeen that Washington is facing difficulties in its movements in the Red Sea, adding that any expansion poses a danger to US forces after Yemen has proven its ability to target them.

Al-Thawr pointed out that on the international level, the US position has weakened, as Washington has not been able to rally European countries to its maritime coalition against Yemen.

The Yemeni Brigadier General added that the US administration is well aware of the strategic military capabilities of Yemen, and it is genuinely concerned about a response in the Gulf and the Red Sea.

Earlier, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) held Saturday an emergency session in New York, called for urgently by Russia, to discuss the widening crisis in the Middle East and the recent US-British aggression on Yemen.

Russia's representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, called the joint US-UK strikes on Yemen "blatant armed aggression against another country."

According to Nebenzia, the massive strikes by the US and UK have "nothing in common" with the right to "self-defense".

"The actions of the coalition violate Article II of the UN Charter," Nebenzia stressed. "The freedom of navigation is governed by the Law of the Sea."

On his part, China's representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, said that the last thing the region needs is reckless military adventures, adding that what is required is dialogue, consultation, and restraint.

The Chinese representative added that the attacks on Yemen did not stop at the destruction of facilities but further escalated tensions in the region, wondering how these attacks contribute to a political solution to the Yemeni crisis.

It is noteworthy that in the early hours of Friday, the US and the UK carried out airstrikes against more than 60 targets in 16 different locations in Yemen, the US Air Forces Central confirmed. In response, the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement threatened that the United States and the United Kingdom would pay a "high price" for the aggression.

The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, underlined that the aggression won't go unpunished. According to Saree, the US-British airstrikes resulted in the martyrdom of five individuals and the injury of six others from the ranks of the Yemeni Armed Forces.