‘Loyalty to Blood of Martyrs’ Rally Held in Yemen’s Sa’ada
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – People in Yemen’s northern city of Sa’ada took to the streets to voice their anger at Saudi Arabia’s aggression against their country and to honor those killed in the seven-year-old war.
The mass rally, dubbed “Loyalty to the Blood of Martyrs” was held on Thursday, with demonstrators chanting slogans against Riyadh and demanding justice for the victims of the Saudi-led military campaign as they marched in the city.
The protesters also condemned the United States and some other Western and regional countries for supporting Saudi Arabia in the war on Yemen.
According to Abdullatif al-Washali, Press TV’s correspondent in the capital Sana’a, the Yemeni protesters are sending a message to the world that the blood of those killed in the war won’t go to waste and that they will always remember the sacrifices of those who defended their land against the Saudi-led invaders.
The Yemenis also say they will continue to fight the aggressors until their last breath, he added.
The latest development comes as Saudi Arabia has recently stepped up its airstrikes, killing more Yemenis and causing more destruction.
Earlier in the day, Saudi warplanes carried out fresh airstrikes on Sana’a, bombarding Sana’a’s Sabeen residential area at least three times in a few minutes.
The houses of Yemeni citizens had been damaged in Sana’a during the Saudi air raids, contrary to the coalition’s claim of targeting a military camp, according to a report by Yemen’s al-Masirah TV channel.
On Monday, the Saudi-led collation also targeted Sana’a airport, which remains a lifeline for Yemenis.
Saudi Arabia launched the devastating military aggression against its southern neighbor in March 2015 in collaboration with a number of its allied states and with arms and logistics support from the US and several Western states.
The aim was to return to power the former Riyadh-backed regime and crush the popular Ansarullah movement which has been running state affairs in the absence of an effective government in Yemen.
The war, accompanied by a tight siege, has failed to reach its goals, but it has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemeni people and has turned entire Yemen into the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
The United Nations says more than 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.
The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories.
Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabia’s incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the Saudi-led invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.