Houthis strike Saudi-led coalition targets after saying kingdom killed eight fishermen
Yemen's Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, struck a position of the Saudi-led coalition in the city of Aden in southern Yemen on Wednesday, after accusing the kingdom of targeting civilians in the Taiz governorate.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the group fired a ballistic missile at the coalition’s "military operation room at the Badr Camp in Aden".
He added that “the strike was precise and direct”.
Separately, Al Jazeera’s reporters on the ground said a missile targeted Aden International Airport this morning.
Meanwhile, four drones launched towards Saudi Arabia were intercepted and destroyed, according to a statement by the Saudi-led coalition.
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"Interception and destruction of 4 drones launched towards the Kingdom," coalition spokesperson Turki al-Maliki said.
In another post, he indicated that the operation was carried out in the Medina and Eastern regions.
The latest attacks on the kingdom come in the wake of what the Houthis said were a series of strikes that killed eight fishermen overnight.
The Sanaa-based health ministry said Saudi Arabia had targeted boats off the coast of al-Kadha in the Taiz Governorate.
The ministry slammed the attack as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, saying that the kingdom continues to target civilians and civilian objects.
Local Yemeni authorities on Tuesday raised the death toll from a Houthi strike on a military camp belonging to government forces a day earlier to 73, with 200 others wounded, most of whom were young recruits hit during a training drill, according to reports.
International assistance
The renewed conflict between the Houthis and the Saudi-backed government has alarmed the international community, which sees it as another front in the war between Iran and the US and Israel.
The escalation has caused energy prices to spike and accelerated an economic crisis, prompting increasing calls for intervention.
On Tuesday, the UK said it was set to deploy Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to Saudi Arabia as a form of protection against Houthi attacks.
According to the British government announcement, the aircraft will only be used to conduct defensive missions against Houthi missile and drone strikes, and will not be utilised to attack Houthis.
Military advisers, as well as an RAF A400M transport aircraft, will also be sent to the kingdom to provide support.
"The continuing attacks from the Houthis on our ally Saudi Arabia are absolutely despicable," Secretary of State for Defence Wes Streeting said.
"The targeting of the airport in Riyadh in particular shows the lengths the Houthis are going to escalate the situation in the region."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also requested parliamentary authorisation last week to act in Saudi Arabia’s defence if asked.
The National Defence Council subsequently pledged all necessary and possible support, and the parliament is set to vote on the authorisation next week.
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