On January 18, Saturday, more than 80 soldiers aligned with former Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi were killed in a drone and missile attack on a military training camp in the country’s Marib province. According to health authorities, at least 100 were wounded in the attack on the camp, which is 170 km east of the capital, Sana.
In a statement, Hadi blamed the the Ansar Allah (also known as Houthi) forces for carrying out the bombing as revenge against the killing of Iranian Quds Force General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq by the United States (US). The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
The attack on the military training camp followed various ground level assaults by Hadi forces on Houthi targets east of Sana.
Hadi was overthrown in 2015, when Houthi forces seized a large part of the country, including the capital Sanaa. He was forced into exile in Saudi Arabia. Houthis claim that Hadi was overthrown because of his corrupt regime. Since 2015, Yemen is witnessing a brutal international war with Hadi forces, backed by the international coalition of Saudi Arabia, the US, the United Kingdom and France, launching violent airstrikes and ground assaults against the Houthis.
The international coalition has been accused of war crimes in Yemen. The relentless airstrikes by them, targeting civilian infrastructure like hospitals, water-sanitation plants and residential area, has led to a grave humanitarian crisis in the country. According to reports, the airstrikes and bombings by the coalition have killed more than 8,000 civilians in Yemen since 2015, with millions on the verge of starvation and disease, leading the UN to call it greatest humanitarian crisis of the century.
Last year, in December, Saudi Arabia was accused of carrying out a deadly cross-border artillery attack on the al-Raqw market in Saada province, killing 17 civilians.
