Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Wednesday said the Saudi-led airstrikes have killed 14 people in a busy market in northern Yemen. In the meantime, the Yemeni officials appealed for international support to protect civilians in Taiz as the Houthis tightened their siege of the city. Separately, a police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy in the Serbian capital of Belgrade shot and killed a man who attacked him with a knife. Police called the incident a “terrorist attack.”
Strikes hit a central market near gas station in al-Hazm
The strikes hit a central market near a gas station in al-Hazm, the capital of al-Jawf province, around midday while it was packed with shoppers, according to a statement issued earlier.
The Ministry of Transportation of the internationally-recognised government on Wednesday said that the Houthis had launched two airstrikes with ballistic missiles on Aden airport, according to a statement on the ministry’s website. The statement called the attacks “a direct threat to the lives of passengers, aviation crews and workers.”
Two craters caused by explosions in the airport runway
A video released by the ministry and circulated by local media showed two craters caused by explosions in the airport runway. Earlier, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, the Houthis’ military spokesman had urged civilians to evacuate the airport claiming a Saudi military cargo plane carrying weapons was there. Yet, he did not provide any evidence.
Meanwhile, Aden’s airport was deserted after the Houthi warning, airport employee Salem Al-Awlaqi told The Associated Press. A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said no staff or security personnel remained. Flights from Cairo and Mumbai bound for Aden were diverted to Seiyun Airport in Yemen’s Hadramawt province, and a flight to Cairo was canceled, the official said.
Yemen urges international community for help
The Yemeni government officials urged the international community to help protect civilians and reopen roads into the city of Taiz as Iran-backed Houthi rebels tightened their siege of the city.
Taiz province has emerged as a major battlefront in recent weeks, including the city of Taiz – considered a gateway to the country’s south. It has taken in around half of Yemen’s population displaced by fighting, straining limited resources.
The Taiz governor, Nabil Shamsan, said residents had lost access to about 3 million litres (about 793,000 gallons) of water previously available from wells in Wadi al-Dhubab, which he said is now under Houthi control. The AP couldn’t independently verify that claim.
With inputs from AP
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