The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces has called on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to put an immediate end to their military aggression against Yemen, or embrace for major surprises.
Speaking during a press conference in the capital Sana’a on Tuesday, Brigadier General Yahya Saree said Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, launched an airstrike against King Khalid Air Base, which lies near the southwestern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait and more than 884 kilometers (549 miles) from the capital Riyadh, the previous evening, using a squadron of domestically-manufactured Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drones.
He went on to say that the attack targeted advanced radars, arms depots and control rooms in the base.
Saree highlighted that King Khalid Air Base serves as one of the main bases of the Saudi-led coalition, from which many atrocious attacks are being launched against Yemeni people.
“Thank God, we are capable of carrying out more than one operation at the same time,” he said, adding that Yemeni forces’ “list of targets is increasing day by day.”
The high-ranking Yemeni military official stressed that the Yemeni forces’ operation is well documented with photos and videos
Saree then advised Riyadh and Abu Dhabi regimes to stop the war on Yemen, or expect “surprises” if they go ahead with their aggression against the impoverished Arab country.
“Our surprises will be uncovered soon. God willing we will adopt the equation of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” he pointed out.
On Sunday, the spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement said the airports of countries involved in the devastating military aggression and blockade against his impoverished homeland would be targeted as long as the embargo imposed by the Saudi-led coalition on Sana'a International Airport remains in place.
“We had repeatedly informed the United Nations about the health condition of [the Secretary-General of the Union of Popular Forces] Mohamed Abdel Rahman al-Rubai, who required treatment abroad. Unfortunately, the world body gave in to Saudi Arabia’s demands, and could not do anything to lift the siege on Sana'a Airport,” Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network cited Mohammed Abdul-Salam as writing on his official Twitter page.
The Houthi spokesman added, “This is something that cannot be tolerated at all.”
“Given the criminal siege on Sana'a International Airport and the failure of the UN to take proper measures [aimed at resolution of the issue]…, the countries of the (Saudi-led) aggression must know that their airports are within our firing range as the attacks would be the most efficient way to end the blockade,” Abdul-Salam pointed out.
Earlier in the day, Yemeni forces and their allies had launched multiple airstrikes against Jizan airport in Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen, using Qasef-2K drones.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Houthi Ansarullah movement.
The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the Saudi-led war has claimed the lives of over 60,000 Yemenis since January 2016.
The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.