Raids on Houthis in Taiz and Saada; Fears for Aviation from Cruise Missiles
Fighting continued on multiple fronts in Yemen, particularly in the governorates of Taiz, Marib, Al Jawf, Al Bayda, and Lahej.
A Yemeni military source said the army launched air strikes today targeting military sites and weapons depots in the areas of Ma’wa Junction and Dhikra Junction east of Taiz, as well as a Houthi reinforcement convoy on the 60th Street north of the city.
In southern Taiz, a strike hit a Houthi gathering and a command center in the Al Suwayda area of the Haifan district, resulting in casualties.
The spokesperson for the Iran-backed militia, Yahya Saree, claimed that a “Kariel” reconnaissance drone was shot down in the Hajjah governorate in the northwest of the country.
Yesterday evening, the official spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Colonel Majid Al-Nazili, warned that the Houthi militia had resorted to using Iranian cruise missiles, posing a threat to international air corridors and civilian aircraft, launching from the port city of Hodeidah on the Red Sea coast.
Al-Nazili stated that the armed forces had recently observed the Houthi militia using Iranian air defense systems with innovative technologies and tactics, which were redirected against several aircraft and converted into cruise missiles launched from Hodejah toward international air routes south of the Red Sea.
He explained that these missiles remain in flight for up to 25 minutes per missile, operate using thermal tracking systems, and attack any heat source without the ability to distinguish between military and civilian targets.
Al-Nazili noted that this poses a direct threat to the safety of civil aviation and the lives of passengers, including United Nations and humanitarian and relief organizations’ aircraft that use these air routes in Yemen and the region.
He called for a responsible and firm stance and actions by relevant authorities, foremost among them the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), regarding the use of these weapons from Yemeni territory and their threat to international air routes.
Meanwhile, while Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in Saudi Arabia’s address to the UN General Assembly, called on the international community to reject Houthi practices and attacks, the Financial Times reported that the European Union is holding talks with Saudi Arabia regarding the possibility of merging or coordinating naval forces operating in the region to protect shipping traffic amid growing concerns over navigation security in the Bab al-Mandab strait following Houthi advances along the western coast.
Saudi Arabia announced in July last year the formation of a naval coalition involving several regional countries, while the European Union continues to operate a naval mission to protect navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, including the Bab al-Mandab area.
