Yemeni Forces Destroy UAE Warship in Hudaydah: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Yemeni armed forces have targeted a UAE warship off the country’s western coast, the Yemeni National Salvation Government said in a statement.
The UAE warship was hit on Wednesday shortly after Saudi-led troops began a major operation to bring Hudaydah under their control, Abdulsalam Jaber, the spokesman of the national salvation government, said.
He added that Saudi-led helicopters rushed to save the forces aboard the vessel, which is now burning near Yemen’s coastline.
A second battleship left the site following the incident, it added, according to al-Masdar News.
Meanwhile, according to The Wall Street Journal, there are signs that the US military is deepening its role in the assault on Hudaydah, in spite of UN warnings of massive human casualties. Washington, the paper says, is providing its Persian Gulf allies with intelligence on airstrike targets in the port.
It cited American military officials as saying that the US is helping the UAE develop a list of targets meant to be off limits for airstrikes on Hudaydah, with an apparent aim to minimize civilian casualties.
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande announced recently that “as many as 250,000 people may lose everything -even their lives,” if there is a military attack on Hudaydah.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in Yemen in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Over 14,000 Yemenis, including women and children, have died in the deadly military campaign.