ZCZC
BFF-46
YEMEN-CONFLICT-AIRPORT-LEAD
Coalition says it launched strike at airport in Yemen capital
RIYADH, Dec 19, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The Saudi-led coalition fighting on the
side of Yemen’s government said it launched an air strike Wednesday at the
airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, destroying a drone.
It is the first air strike that the alliance has confirmed carrying out at
the airport since peace talks last week in Sweden that resulted in a
ceasefire accord for the battleground port city of Hodeida.
The coalition said in a statement carried by the state-run Al-Ekhbariya
news channel that it targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle and “destroyed the
aircraft that was in the process of preparing to be launched, thwarting an
imminent terrorist attack”.
The coalition said that the Huthis are using the airport “as a military
camp in violation of international humanitarian law”.
The strike Wednesday comes nearly a week after an agreement between the
government and the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels on the withdrawal of fighters
from Hodeida and a planned swap of around 15,000 prisoners.
A “mutual understanding” was also reached to facilitate aid deliveries to
Yemen’s third city Taiz — under the control of loyalists but besieged by
rebels.
No deal was reached on the future of Sanaa airport, which has been closed
to commercial flights for nearly three years.
The airport will be discussed at the next round of talks, UN envoy Martin
Griffiths said.
The two sides have agreed to meet again in late January to define the
framework for negotiations on a comprehensive peace settlement.
The war between the Huthi Shiite rebels and troops loyal to President
Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi escalated in 2015, when he fled into Saudi exile and
the coalition intervened.
Since then, the war has killed some 10,000 people, according to the World
Health Organization, although human rights groups say the real death toll
could be five times as high.
The conflict has also pushed 14 million people to the brink of famine in
what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
BSS/AFP/RY/1905 hrs