Coalition launches ‘large-scale’ Yemen operation
The Saudi-led coalition yesterday launched a "large-scale" assault on Yemen after missiles fired by Iran-backed Huthi rebels killed two people in the kingdom, the first such deaths in three years.
The Huthis warned Yemen's oil-rich northern neighbour of a "painful" response if the coalition does not stop its "aggression" against the conflict-riven country.
Yemen has been wracked by civil war since 2014 pitting the internationally recognised government supported by the Saudi-led military coalition against the Huthis who control much of the north.
Tens of thousands of people have since been killed, in what the UN has described as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
The latest violence came overnight when two people -- one Saudi and the other Yemeni -- were killed in the projectile attack on Jazan, said Saudi's civil defence.
"A military projectile fell on a commercial store on the main street, resulting in two deaths," it said, adding six Saudis and a Bangladeshi national were wounded.
Images from the official Saudi Press Agency purportedly of the aftermath of the attack showed a large crater in the ground and destroyed vehicles.
The Saudi-led coalition said shortly afterwards that it was "preparing for a large-scale military operation". It later launched an air strike in which "three civilians including a child and a woman were killed, and six others were wounded", Yemeni medics told AFP.
The coalition will hold a news conference today to address the latest developments, the Saudi authorities said.
Earlier Huthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels had launched three ballistic missiles on Jazan, a southern region of the kingdom bordering Yemen.
The insurgents often launch missiles and drones into Saudi Arabia, targeting its airports and oil infrastructure. The latest was the first in more than three years that has resulted in fatalities in the kingdom, which recorded its first death from a Huthi missile attack when a missile struck Riyadh in 2018.
It also comes as fighting between the two sides intensifies, with the coalition ramping air strikes on Sanaa.
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