Houthis Say They Struck Saudi Aramco and Other Targets ... At Least 53 Killed in Attack on Government Forces’ Training Camp

[Financial News]  

Yemen’s pro-Iran Houthi rebels said they carried out large-scale retaliatory strikes on the 19th (local time), hitting six locations, including key oil facilities, an international airport and military bases in Saudi Arabia.
The Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at a Yemeni government forces training camp. At least 53 trainees were killed and around 200 injured. The casualty toll is expected to continue rising. In retaliation, Yemeni government forces also launched attacks on areas held by the Houthi rebels, including the Red Sea coast.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree declared that the large-scale strikes on Saudi Arabia were “retaliation for Saudi Arabia’s brutal aggression, with more than 200 airstrikes on the capital, Sana’a, and other areas over the past 48 hours.” Saree later said, “We successfully carried out six high-intensity military operations using multiple ballistic and cruise missiles and drones.”
He claimed that Aramco facilities in Yanbu, a key oil-export port city on Saudi Arabia’s western Red Sea coast, were hit with precision strikes in two stages, causing a large fire. He added that the Shaybah oil field, a massive oil production complex in the Rub’ al Khali desert near the UAE border in the east, was also struck, setting its facilities ablaze. He also said that King Khalid International Airport in the capital, Riyadh, was hit with precision strikes in three stages, and that the area around Abha International Airport in southern Asir Province, near the Yemeni border, and Khamis Mushait Air Base were heavily struck. Khamis Mushait Air Base serves as a major launch base for airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition.

On the 19th, the Houthi rebels also carried out an airstrike that caused the highest death toll since the civil war began. They fired missiles at a government forces training camp in the Shabwah region, causing severe casualties.
In a statement, the Shabwah provincial government’s Information Office said ballistic missiles struck the “Martyr Ahmed Al-Sulaimani Training Camp,” killing large numbers of trainees. Initial figures showed 53 dead and around 200 injured.
The Shabwah provincial government called it “a cowardly terrorist act” and expressed concern that the casualty toll would rise further.
Yemeni government forces said they immediately retaliated, carrying out 13 airstrikes targeting Houthi rebel bases, weapons depots, vehicles and other targets.
Government forces said they specifically targeted Al-Dhabab, west of the Red Sea coastal city of Taiz, where the Houthi rebels have weapons depots.

[email protected] Song Kyung-jae Reporter