. Military Space News .
WAR REPORT
Yemen rebels vow to avenge coalition killing of political head
By Jamil Nasser with Shatha Yaish in Dubai
Sanaa (AFP) April 23, 2018

UN chief strongly condemns air strikes on Yemen wedding
United Nations, United States (AFP) April 23, 2018 - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday strongly condemned airstrikes on a wedding in Yemen that killed dozens of people, including children, and called for an investigation.

Yemen's Huthi rebels have blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the attack on the wedding in northern Hajjah province late Sunday.

Guterres "strongly condemns the airstrikes on a wedding party in Hajjah and on civilian vehicles in Taez, where at least 50 civilians, including children, were reportedly killed and scores of others injured," said a UN statement.

The UN chief "reminds all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law concerning the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure during armed conflicts."

He called for "a prompt, effective and transparent investigation" of the air strikes which were carried out as the United Nations is seeking to re-launch political talks to end the war in Yemen.

Guterres last year put the Saudi-led coalition on a UN blacklist of child rights' violators for killing and maiming children in Yemen.

The coalition intervened in March 2015 to push back the Huthis who continue to control the capital Sanaa.

The Huthis on Monday accused the coalition of killing their political leader, Saleh al-Sammad, in an air strike last week.

The war in Yemen has killed thousands of people and led to the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with 75 percent of the population in dire need of aid while one million Yemenis have been ill from cholera.

Yemen's Huthi militias vowed Monday to avenge the killing of their top political leader in what they said was a Saudi-led coalition air strike, the highest-ranking rebel to die in the three-year conflict.

Saleh al-Sammad, head of the Huthis' supreme political council, was "martyred" last Thursday in the eastern province of Hodeida, the Iran-allied rebels said via their Saba news agency.

Sammad's death is a major blow to the Shiite rebels who have been fighting forces of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi backed by a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

The most senior rebel to have been killed since the coalition intervened in March 2015, his name was on a Saudi list of 40 Huthi leaders that put bounties on their heads totalling $440 million.

The rebels named Sammad's successor as Mehdi Hussein al-Mashat.

"This crime won't go unanswered," said the Huthis' overall leader, Abdul Malek al-Huthi, adding that six other people were killed in the same raid.

The news came hours after officials in Yemen said dozens of people were killed and wounded in an air raid on a wedding party in the country on Sunday, in another attack the Huthis blamed on the coalition.

Medical sources and local officials put the number of dead between 22 and 33, with at least 40 to 50 wounded, while the circumstances of the raid remained unclear.

Doctors Without Borders tweeted that a hospital it supports in Hajjah received at least 65 patients, including at least 13 children, wounded in the air strikes, which it said were "among the most devastating in the area in recent months".

- Iran denounces 'invaders' -

Rescue teams said the wedding was being held in the Huthi-controlled Bani Qais area of Hajjah province, north of Sanaa, when jets carried out the raid.

A local official said at least 23 civilians, including women and children, were killed.

The official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said a double air strike on the venue had left a number of bodies buried beneath the rubble.

Huthi-run television said at least 33 people, including women and children, were killed and as many as 55 people wounded.

The coalition's spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said they were following media reports of the bombing, and will investigate the allegations.

Iran, which is accused of supplying arms to the Huthis, swiftly condemned the raid.

"The escalated bombardment of residential areas proves the desperation and inability of the invaders in achieving their goals," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi said.

Also on Monday, the coalition said it downed two new ballistic missiles fired by the Huthis, who claimed to target facilities belonging to the kingdom's oil giant Aramco in southern Jizan city.

The coalition reported no damage or loss of life from the strikes, the latest in a string of bombardments on Saudi Arabia by the Huthis.

Saudi forces said they intercepted a rebel ballistic missile targeting its southern border city of Najran on Sunday, which set a farm ablaze, after another aimed at Jizan was shot down on Friday.

- 'Year of ballistics' -

At the beginning of April, Huthi political head Sammad dubbed 2018 "the year of ballistics", referring to cross-border missile attacks.

Sunday's deadly strike in Hajjah was one of a series to have struck weddings in Yemen's conflict, which has killed nearly 10,000 people and wounded 54,000 others since March 2015.

In late 2015, coalition air strikes on two wedding parties in northern Yemen killed at least 159 civilians.

Violence has also hit funerals. In October 2016, 140 mourners were killed in an air strike on a house in Sanaa.

Elsewhere in Yemen on Monday, five pro-government soldiers were killed and 19 wounded in clashes with jihadists in the southern city of Taez, medics said.

Fighting in the city's Jahmaliah district came after the governor of Taez launched an operation against jihadists he suspected were behind the murder of a Red Cross aid worker over the weekend.

The Lebanese aid worker, Hanna Lahoud, was shot dead in Taez on Saturday by unidentified assailants who sprayed his Red Cross vehicle with bullets.

President Hadi's government was driven out of Sanaa in 2014 by the Huthis, who still control the capital and much of northern Yemen.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since the coalition's intervention three years ago, triggering what the UN has called the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

jj-oh-sh-ac/ceb


Related Links
Space War News


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


WAR REPORT
Japan PM Abe sends offering to war shrine
Tokyo (AFP) April 21, 2018
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a ritual offering to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine Saturday but has no plans to visit it to avoid tensions ahead of a three-way meeting with China and South Korea, officials and local media said. Abe sent a sacred "masakaki" tree bearing his name to the shrine as it started a three-day spring festival, a shrine spokeswoman said. On the eve of the festival, more than 70 lawmakers made a pilgrimage to the shrine, which China and South Korea see as a symb ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

WAR REPORT
Saudis down new missile from Yemen rebels: state media

Saudis intercept ballistic missile from Yemen: coalition

Lockheed tapped for upgrades to Patriot, THAAD missile systems

Estonia calls for deployment of Patriot missiles and US troops

WAR REPORT
US Strategic Command observed Russia, China operating hypersonic missiles

Syria retracts report on missile attack: state media

Lockheed tapped for long-range, anti-ship missiles

Boeing to restart production of Standoff Land Attack Missiles

WAR REPORT
MSAB and URSA Partner on Drone Forensic Technology

Air Force contracts with SRC for drone supplies, services

OFFSET "Sprinters" to Pursue State-of-the-art Solutions for Second Swarm Sprint

Israeli drone crashes in southern Lebanon

WAR REPORT
India Struggling to Establish Lost Link With Crucial Communication Satellite

Indian scientists lose contact with satellite

Russian Soyuz launches military satellite

India set to launch S-Band satellite for military communications

WAR REPORT
Army researchers conduct first-ever combustion experiment with X-rays

Orbital ATK receives $115M to produce Army ammunition

State Dept. approves $1.3B sale of Howitzers to Saudi Arabia

DARPA Announces First Annual Electronics Resurgence Initiative Summit

WAR REPORT
US to update Saudi artillery for $1.31 billion

74% of French people against weapons sales to Saudi: poll

Mattis wins big with budget victory

US approves $1 billion in Saudi defense contracts

WAR REPORT
NATO not planning to boost military presence in Baltics

Russian general and NATO commander meet in Baku

Turkey to consider Greek soldiers' case if coup suspects returned

US-China trade tension dominates IMF gathering

WAR REPORT
Course set to overcome mismatch between lab-designed nanomaterials and nature's complexity

This 2-D nanosheet expands like a Grow Monster

A treasure trove for nanotechnology experts

UCLA researchers develop a new class of two-dimensional materials









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.