Saudi Arabia-led Coalition Launches Air Strike Against The Houthis, Dozens Of People Killed In Yemen

Illustration of the impact of an air strike in Sanaa, Yemen. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - An airstrike killed about 14 people on a building in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, residents said on Tuesday, during a city-wide attack launched by the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi group.

The alliance's attack in Houthi-controlled Sanaa was in retaliation to an attack claimed by the Iran-aligned Houthis on Monday against coalition partners the United Arab Emirates, in which three people were killed in an attack in Abu Dhabi.

Citing Reuters Januari 18, the coalition group also said it had successfully intercepted eight drones that were launched into Saudi Arabia on Monday.

On Tuesday morning, the coalition said it had started airstrikes against forts and camps in Sanaa belonging to the Houthi group, Saudi state media said. The attack appeared to be the deadliest since 2019 in Sanaa.

The attack that killed about 14 people, according to preliminary estimates, took place at the home of a former military official.

It killed him, his wife, his 25-year-old son, other family members, and several unidentified people, medical and resident sources told Reuters.

Coalition attacks around the city have killed a total of about 20 people, the deputy foreign minister for the Houthi government, which controls much of northern Yemen, said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the attacks had damaged homes, killed at least a dozen people, and injured around a dozen.

To note, the UAE has been arming and training Yemeni troops who recently joined the battle against the Houthis in Yemen's energy-producing regions of Shabwa and Marib.

The Houthi-claimed attacks on Monday at two locations in the UAE triggered explosions in a fuel truck, killing three people and setting off a fire near Abu Dhabi airport.

In response to the attack, the UAE said it reserves the right to respond to "terrorist attacks and criminal escalation".