Ansarullah, Yemeni DM Vow to Avenge Death of Leader Saleh al-Samad

Rasa - Several Ansarullah leaders and members of the political council along with Yemeni Defense Ministry strongly condemned the death of head of the Supreme Political Council Saleh al-Samad in a Saudi Arabia’s airstrike in the Western province of Hudaydah.

News ID: 437325

Date: 24 April 2018 - 21:05

RNA - Leader of Ansarullah movement Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi said all aggressor countries, including the US and Saudi Arabia, were responsible for the killing of Samad, and they must await the consequences of their crime, Yemen News reported.

"This crime will not pass without punishment; neither this nor other crimes like the targeting of  a wedding in Hajjah province that left dozens dead and injured," he added.

Al-Houthi stated that the top figure had been killed, along with six of his companions, after their convoy was hit by a three Saudi airstrikes in al-Khamsin Street in Hudaydah, calling on the Yemenis to participate in a massive demonstration.

Yemen’s Defense Ministry has also vowed a crushing response to the assassination of the senior official, stressing that Riyadh and Washington will regret their criminal adventurism in the impoverished state. It also stated that the aggressors would not be safe from ballistic missiles.

The Ansarullah Council of National Defence has also announced a state of alert following the death of the chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council and threatened to retaliate.

Saba news agency, citing a statement released by the Supreme Political Council on Monday, reported that the top political figure of the Ansarullah movement lost his life after Saudi fighters bombarded his residence in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah on Thursday.

The Riyadh-led military coalition had offered a 20-million-dollar prize for any information that could help uncover the location of Samad’s domicile, according to reports. Samad was number two on the coalition’s most-wanted list, after the Ansarullah leader.

Mahdi al-Mashat, who was previously a representative of leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi, has been named Samad’s replacement, according to Al-Masirah TV.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen since March 2015 to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 15,700 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Despite Riyadh's claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi bombers are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

According to Fars News Agancy, the Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen has driven the impoverished country towards humanitarian disaster, as Saudi Arabia's deadly campaign prevented the patients from travelling abroad for treatment and blocked the entry of medicine into the war-torn country.

Yemen is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with more than 22 million people in need and is seeing a spike in needs, fuelled by ongoing conflict, a collapsing economy and diminished social services and livelihoods.

A UN panel has compiled a detailed report of civilian casualties caused by the Saudi military and its allies during their war against Yemen, saying the Riyadh-led coalition has used precision-guided munitions in its raids on civilian targets.

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