News / Saudi Arabia

Mercenaries fighting for Riyadh killed in Yemeni missile strike near Najran

Sunday, 24 February 2019 5:09 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 24 February 2019 6:05 PM ]

This file picture shows a domestically designed and manufactured Yemeni Badr p-1 short-range and high-precision ballistic missile shortly after launch. (Photo by the media bureau of Yemen’s Joint Operations Command)

Dozens of mercenaries fighting for the regime in Riyadh have been killed in a strike by a domestically-manufactured ballistic missile fired by Yemeni army forces on their base in the northwestern Yemeni province of Sa’ada near the border with the southern Saudi region of Najran.

Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree said a short-range and solid-propellant Badr P-1 missile hit al-Boqe'e base with great precision on Sunday evening, Yemeni Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.

The source added that the missile strike left at least 40 mercenaries dead and tens of others injured.

The Badr P-1 missile was unveiled during a ceremony in the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a on October 27 last year. It is said to have a pinpoint accuracy of three meters.

Earlier a number of mercenaries were killed and injured when Yemeni soldiers and allied fighters from Popular Committees detonated an explosive device in the Bir al-Basha area of Yemen's southwestern province of Ta'izz.

A Yemeni man walks in the ruins of a building destroyed in Saudi airstrikes in Yemen's capital, Sana’a, February 1, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

Separately, Saudi military aircraft launched a series of airstrikes against residential buildings in the Nihm district of Sana'a province, leaving three women and an elderly man dead. A man suffered injuries as well.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing Hadi’s government back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

According to a new report by the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, the Saudi-led war has so far claimed the lives of about 56,000 Yemenis.

A malnourished Yemeni child lies on a bed awaiting treatment at a hospital in the country's second city of Aden on January 19, 2019. (Photo by AFP)

The Saudi-led war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN has already said a record 22.2 million Yemenis are in dire need of food, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger. According to the world body, Yemen is suffering from the most severe famine in more than 100 years.

A number of Western countries, the US and Britain in particular, are also accused of being complicit in the ongoing aggression as they supply Riyadh with advanced weapons and military equipment as well as logistical and intelligence assistance.

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Saudi Arabia Yemen Middle East Ansarullah Houthis Yemeni forces Sa'ada Najran Popular Committees Yemeni troops Saudi aggression missile Saudi mercenaries Badr P-1 ballistic missile