Saudi Warplanes Continue to Hit Yemen despite Ramadan Ceasefire
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Only days after the Saudi-led coalition claimed to have extended its so-called ceasefire in Yemen with the arrival of the holy month of Ramadan, the Yemeni army announced that it has repelled two major assaults by Saudi-backed militants in two provinces.
Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a tweet on Tuesday night that the Yemen defensive operations against the militants took place from Tuesday morning until noon, killing and injuring scores of them.
He added that dozens of the militants were also captured by the Yemeni troops.
The assaults took place in the central province of Ma’rib and southern province of Al-Dale'a, the spokesman said.
Saree added that Saudi warplanes conducted 16 raids against residential areas in the provinces of Ma’rib, Jawf and Sa’ada in the past 24 hours despite the kingdom's self-declared truce.
The attacks came days after the Saudi-led military coalition decided to “extend the ceasefire for a month,” according to its spokesman Turki al-Maliki.
A two-week ceasefire in Yemen announced earlier by the alliance expired on Thursday, without leading to a permanent truce.
The chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee of Yemen, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, dismissed the Saudi-led coalition’s extension of the unilateral ceasefire in the war-ravaged Arab country by one month, saying Yemenis are expecting serious actions rather than words, which are simply media maneuver.
The Saudi-led coalition invaded Yemen in 2015. Since then, over 100,000 people have been killed, according to the US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).