Yemeni people have a full right to resist “Saudi aggression” and a planned occupation by “all means and options,” the Houthi rebel leader said, as Riyadh wraps-up the “first phase” of an operation that saw more than 2,300 airstrikes in less than a month.
“It’s the right of our
people to resist the aggression and face the aggressor by any
means,” the leader
of Yemen’s Houthi militia Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said in a
televised speech.
Saudi Arabia’s goal is the “invasion” and
“occupation” of Yemen, in order to “place this
country again under its feet and hegemony,” al-Houthi said
as the Saudi-led airstrike campaign entered its 26th day.
“Our Yemeni people will never give in – it will resist in the
face of the savage aggression,” the rebel leader concluded,
stressing that Saudi Arabia “has no right to interfere” in
its neighbor affairs. He also stated that Iran, which some accuse
of supporting the rebels, actually has “no influence” in
the country.
“The political problem is an internal affair and it is up to
us to define our future,” he said.
At the same time, the rebel leader condemned the
“unfair” UN Security Council resolution passed earlier this week which
endorsed an arms embargo on the Houthis and their supporters.
READ
MORE: Al-Qaeda seizes key military camp in Yemen, snatches tanks
and artillery
The intensifying inter-tribal clashes and airstrikes in Yemen
took the lives of at least 85 people on Sunday, medical and
military sources told AFP. In the city of Daleh, 31 Houthis and
17 pro-Hadi forces were killed a local official said, confirming
a series of air strikes on rebel positions in the region. At
least 10 Houthis died in the city of Taez during fighting which
also left four pro-Hadi men dead, medics said. The country’s
third largest city has seen intense fighting over the last week.
Other casualties were reported in the southern province of
Shabwa, and in Aden.
As part of the ongoing
operation Decisive Storm, Saudis carried out more than 106
strikes on Saturday and Sunday alone, knocking out the central
communication command of the Houthis, Saudi Brigadier General
Ahmed Asiri told the Al Arabiya television channel. Through more
than 2,300 strikes to date, the Saudi-led coalition has destroyed
majority of the Houthi’s weapons storage facilities, he
claimed.
“Since the beginning of the military operation, 80 percent of
the weapon storage facilities that were captured by Houthis have
been destroyed,” Saudi Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri told
the Al Arabiya television channel. Giving no comments on possible
civilian victims of such massive air campaign, the General
claimed Houthis were turning “houses, farms and caves”
into storage depots and military operation command centers.
Saudis say Yemen bombing is “very, very successful” but that’s
not the view from the ground. http://t.co/govhPvVP5c pic.twitter.com/DienAKt94T
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) April
18, 2015
With 18 out of 22 governorates in the country affected by the
coalition’s airstrikes, the UN estimates that up to 150,000
people have now been displaced in the country. More than 750
civilians have been killed in intensified violence since the
airstrikes began over three weeks ago.
“Ordinary families are struggling to access healthcare,
water, food and fuel – basic requirements for their
survival,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator Johannes Van Der
Klaauw said on Sunday.
READ
MORE: Saudi Arabia signs up Egypt for ‘major military
maneuver’
With “tangible results” reached on the ground, the
“first phase” of the operation against Yemen has
“almost” been concluded, General Asiri told al-Arabiya. But in
the meantime over 15,000 Saudi troops are fortifying border
positions against possible Houthi attacks, with some analysts
alleging an ground invasion in Yemen would imminently follow.
The Shia Houthi rebels took control of Yemen’s capital last year,
forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee Sanaa and then
escape to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis accuse its main geopolitical
rival, the Shia powerhouse Iran, of arming the Houthis – claims
vigorously denied by Tehran.
A peace plan submitted by Iran to the UN has
meanwhile been strongly rejected by the Yemeni government in
exile. Calling for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian
assistance, the plan also suggested an end to international
military meddling and urged an inclusive national dialogue to
establish a government of “national unity.”
“We reject the Iranian initiative,” Yemeni government
spokesman Rajeh Badi told Reuters by phone from Qatar’s capital,
Doha. “The goal of the initiative is only a political
maneuver.”