Saudi-led coalition destroys missile and drone warehouse in Sanaa

Military communications network also destroyed, coalition says

The remains of Houthi drones intercepted by the Saudi Arabian Air Force. All photos: SPA

Saudi Arabia has led the coalition fighting Houthi rebels in Yemen since 2015.

More debris from Houthi drones shot down by Saudi Arabia.

The Joint Forces Command of the Coalition said missiles were intercepted above Riyadh.

Another part of a Houthi drone after the interception.

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it destroyed missile and drone warehouses in a mountainous area in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, in the early hours of Thursday.

In a statement carried by Saudi state news agency SPA, the coalition said it destroyed a military communications network linked to unmanned aerial vehicles used by the Houthi rebels in the Bani Al Harith district.

The conflict in Yemen began in 2014 when the Houthis took over the capital, Sanaa. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war the following year to try to restore the government.

Yemen's armed forces also said they shot down two Houthi drones and destroyed five vehicles in various locations across the south of Marib.

The Houthi movement has stepped up cross-border attacks as the coalition intensified its air strikes on the capital Sanaa and the gas-rich Marib region, which has this year become the focus of the seven-year war, and where thousands of fighters from both sides have been killed.

Marib, which is about 170 kilometres from Sanaa, is the last stronghold of the Yemen government and has become the focus of fighting because of its oil resources.

On Tuesday, the coalition said it carried out an additional 26 operations against the rebels in Marib and Al Jawf over the past 24 hours. It said 150 fighters were killed and 18 military vehicles hit after the Houthis launched another drone attack on the kingdom.

The clashes in Marib have displaced more than 64,450 people since January, the UN said.

On Wednesday, the UK and US urged Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stop targeting Saudi Arabia.

The deadlocked war in Yemen has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, leaving millions suffering from shortages of food and medical supplies. It has killed more than 130,000 people, fighters and civilians, according to a database project that tracks violence.