JEDDAH: The Arab coalition has denied media reports alleging involvement in the transfer of US weapons to Iranian-backed Houthi militias and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) in Yemen.
Coalition spokesman Col. Turki Al-Maliki stressed the coalition’s commitment to confronting and defeating the Houthi insurgency, as well as Daesh and AQAP.
He said that several media outlets had wrongly published and broadcast images of coalition vehicles damaged in combat that were set to be evacuated as being in the hands of the Houthis.
He added: “155 damaged coalition vehicles had so far been evacuated from Yemen,” but that “another 55 had yet to be moved.”
Though a recent UN-brokered cease-fire agreement, between the Houthis and the coalition around the port of Hodeidah, has repeatedly been breached, AQAP no longer holds any territory in Yemen as a result of the coalition’s campaign.
Military operation
The Arab coalition has targeted Houthi drone capabilities in a military operation in Sanaa on Friday.
Al-Maliki said that the forces carried out a military operation to destroy a legitimate target, a location used by the Houthi militia to store and prepare the launch of drones for terrorist attacks in the capital, the SPA said.
Al-Maliki affirmed the commitment of the Arab coalition to preventing access by the Houthi militia, and other terrorist organizations, to such capabilities, and taking all necessary measures to protect civilians and vital areas from the threat of terrorist drone attacks in accordance with the customary international law.
Houthi violations
The Yemeni army recorded 1,062 violations committed by the Houthis, including attacks on civilian quarters and Yemeni army positions, in addition to targeting the International Mission to implement the Stockholm Agreement.
More than 72 Yemeni civilians were killed in Hodeidah until Feb. 6, another 469 were injured, many with critical injuries, a source in the Yemeni army said.
The source called on the UN envoy to Yemen to take the necessary measures to force the Houthis to stop their violations and respect the terms of the UN-sponsored agreement on Hodeidah.
