14 pro-Hadi troops killed in Saudi air raid by mistake
Ahlul Bayt News Agency – At least 14 pro-Hadi (fugitive ex-Yemeni President Mansour Hadi) troops were killed when a Saudi-led coalition air raid targeted their position “by mistake”, tribal and military sources said on Friday.
“The air force bombed a gathering of fighters in the region of Harib believing them to be Ansarullah fighters,” a military source said.
A tribal chief confirmed the overnight strike, saying that those killed appeared to be local tribesmen fighting on the side of the forces loyal to exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Harib is around 80 kilometres south of Marib, the capital of the central province. Loyalist forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, claim they are advancing on the ground in Marib as part of a major aggression on Ansarullah fighters and popular committees.
In contrast, the Yemeni army backed by popular committees, has entered Saudi military bases in the kingdom’s southwestern region of Asir.
The video footage released by Yemen’s al-Masirah television network on Friday showed Yemeni forces advancing into Saudi military bases in the region, destroying the vehicles and equipment of the Saudi army.
The Saudi soldiers, who could not resist the Yemeni offensive, fled the area, reports added.
The attack was part of Yemen’s retaliatory measures against Saudi Arabia over Riyadh’s unabated military campaign in the impoverished Arab country.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia began its aggression against Yemen – without a UN mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.
According to the UN, the conflict has so far left about 4,500 people dead and thousands of others wounded. Local Yemeni sources, however, say the fatality figure is much higher.
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