Saudi-Led Arab Coalition Announces Start of Strikes on Sanaa

The Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia has started bombing the Yemeni capital Sanaa in response to the strikes carried out by Houthi rebels in the UAE, Sky News Arabia reported early on Tuesday.

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According to the statement from the coalition, airstrikes began "in response to threat and military necessity." The attack is said to be targeting "terrorist leaders."

"The coalition air force is conducting an around-the-clock operation in the skies over Sanaa," the statement says. "We urge civilians to stay away from military camps and Houthi gatherings for their safety."

F-15 aircraft attacks were said to have destroyed "two ballistic missile launchers that were used on Monday to strike the territory of the UAE."

Al-Masirah, a Yemeni TV channel owned by the Houthi rebels, reported that four people were killed and five were injured as a result of the coalition attacks. Later, the number of victims increased to 12 people, including women and children.

The Houthi movement confirmed it had carried out strikes with mined drones on Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports, threatening new attacks on strategically important objects in the UAE. According to a spokesman of the Yemeni Armed Forces Yahya Sare'e, five ballistic missiles and many drones were used to perform the attack.

According to police, three fuel tanks hit by the drones exploded near the fuel depots of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). Another blast set fire in the Abu Dhabi airport area. Three people died as a result of the attack – one Pakistani national and two Indian nationals; six people were injured.

Shortly after the attack, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed asked U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to reinstate the Houthis' status as a terrorist organization, Axios reported.

President Biden, who removed the movement from the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) list last year, has argued that the designation hinders the delivery of humanitarian assistance for Yemen, as the world's worst humanitarian crisis hits the country.

Yemen has been engulfed in an armed conflict between the government forces, led by President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and the Houthi rebels for over six years. The situation was further aggravated after the Saudi-led coalition, working in cooperation with Hadi's forces, joined the conflict in 2015 and conducted occasional air, land and sea operations against the Houthis.