Yemenis to give 'unprecedented' response to Saudi possible attack on Hudaydah

Rasa - The chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee has warned the Saudi-led coalition against launching a military assault on the country’s strategic western port city of Hudaydah, stressing the Yemeni forces’ response would be “unprecedented” in such a case.

News ID: 434713

Date: 11 November 2017 - 23:33

RNA - “If Saudi Arabia and its allies opt to attack Hudaydah, we will take measures like never before,” said a post published on Mohammed Ali al-Houthi’s Facebook page on Saturday, the Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported.

He added, “We can target Saudi oil tankers. The Yemeni naval forces can strike the oil vessels. We can take any … action in case they (the Saudi-led coalition) invade Hudaydah.”

The chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Revolutionary Committee stressed that all giant oil installations in Saudi Arabia would be the main targets of Yemeni missiles from now on, advising the Saudi-led coalition to refrain from a raid against Hudaydah if they want to keep Saudi oil tankers safe.

Early on November 5, Yemeni forces launched a solid propellant and Scud-type Borkan-2 (Volcano-2) missile against King Khalid International Airport, located 35 kilometers north of the Saudi capital Riyadh, in retaliation for Riyadh’s devastating aerial bombardment campaign against Yemen.

Saudi Arabia has been incessantly pounding Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to crush the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstate former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of the Riyadh regime.

More than 12,000 people have been killed since the onset of the campaign more than two and a half years ago. Much of the Arabian Peninsula country's infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and factories, has been reduced to rubble due to the war.

The Saudi-led war has also triggered a deadly cholera epidemic across Yemen.

According to the latest figures by the World Health Organization, the cholera outbreak has killed 2,167 people since the end of April and is suspected to have infected 841,906.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has described the current level of hunger in Yemen as “unprecedented,” emphasizing that 17 million people are now food insecure in the country.

It added that 6.8 million, meaning almost one in four people, do not have enough food and rely entirely on external assistance.

A recent survey showed that almost one third of families have gaps in their diets, and hardly ever consume foods like pulses, vegetables, fruit, dairy products or meat.

More than 3 million pregnant and nursing women and children under 5 need support to prevent or cure malnutrition.

847/940