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The Saudi-led coalition announced on September 20 that it had initiated a “special military operation” against Houthi positions in the western Yemeni province of al-Hudaydah, where a U.N. sponsored ceasefire is implemented.
In an official statement, the coalition said that its warplanes destroyed four assembly sites for water-born improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs) and naval mines.
“The strikes were carried out in accordance with the international humanitarian law … All precautions were taken,” the statement reads.
Al-Masirah confirmed that Saudi warplanes carried out four airstrikes on positions in the district of al-Hali, east of al-Hudaydah’s city center. No one was reportedly killed or injured.
The Saudi-led coalition action was a major violation of the ceasefire, which was reached last year after a series of talks in Sweden.
Mohamad Abd al-Salam, head of the Houthis delegation to the peace talks, called the Saudi airstrikes “a dangerous escalation,” warning the Kingdom from a response.
“Intense airstrikes on al-Hudayadah in a dangerous escalation that could end the Sweden agreement, so let the coalition bear the consequences of this escalation,” Abd al-Salam wrote on Twitter.
The Saudi-led coalition operation appears to be a response to the September 14 Abqaiq–Khurais attack, which dealt a major blow to the Kingdom’s oil production. The Houthis will not likely tolerate this operation.
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