Ballistic Missile Shot Down by Saudi-led Coalition

Defence Redefined

Published on 14/06/2020 at 10:26

The Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen announced on June 13 that it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile aimed at the Najran border town of Saudi Arabia.

In a statement issued by the Saudi state news agency, the coalition said the rocket was fired from the Yemeni city of Sanaa and that injuries were caused by its fragments when it was destroyed.

The pro-Western coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 in an effort to restore the power of the internationally recognized government in Sanaa, following its expulsion from the capital by the Houthis in late 2014. The ensuing war has been deadlocked for years and the United Nations-led peace efforts have been booming since late 2018.

We recall that the Houthis also claimed the September 2019 attack on oil facilities belonging to state firm Aramco, but Riyadh as well as its Western allies blamed the attack on Iran.

A unilateral ceasefire announced by the Saudi-led coalition in April expired last month without leading to a permanent truce after the Houthi movement rejected the offer.

To date, thousands have been killed and Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest country has been pushed towards the brink of famine. Assistance from international aid agencies, including the United Nations, has provided much-needed assistance to the population – nearly 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line.

The UN’s human rights spokesman Rupert Colville said more than 30 of 41 UN-supported programmes would close in the coming weeks unless additional funds were secured.

International donors pledged $1.35 billion for Yemen at a conference on June 2 – but that was well below a $2.4 billion fundraising target needed to prevent severe cutbacks in the UN’s aid operation.

With information from CNA, Al Jazeera

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