At least 40 martyred in Houthi strikes on Al-Anad military base

SMA NEWS – LAHJ

At least 40 soldiers from the Al-Amalikah Brigades were killed and 70 injured in a Houthi rebel missile attack on a military base in Lahj province on Sunday, military officials said.

“The death toll rose to 40 soldiers and 70 were injured in the attack,” Lt Col Mohammed Al-Naqib, spokesman of the fourth military district and the southern forces, said that the attack targeted Al-Anad military base in southern Lahj province.

The military spokesperson said that most of the injured are in a critical situation which may increase the death toll in the coming few hours. One of the missiles directly hit a hangar where tens of soldiers were resting while another targeted another group during training.

“Four ballistic missiles hit while a squad from the third battalion in the Al-Amalikah forces was carrying out military training around 9.10am,” said Gen Ali Al-Awlaki, director of the Military Operations Room in Aden.

Al-Anad, the largest military base in the country, is 60 kilometres north of Aden the capital.

The base is controlled by the government and hosts troops from the Saudi-led Coalition fighting alongside the Yemeni government against the rebels.

It was not immediately known if any soldiers from the coalition were killed or injured in the attack.

“The missiles were fired from areas under the Houthi control in Taiz province and preceded by drones that hovered over the base minutes before the attack,” Gen Al-Awlaki said.

Lt Col Al-Naqib said the drones spotted the soldiers during their training and the missiles were launched later.

Yemen’s President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi urged the Yemeni people to align themselves and go fighting Houthi militiamen together.
“Anyone who can imagine that he will survive the Iran-backed Houthi militia’s death scheme, is deluded, we — in the republican line — must be fully aware of this truth and aim our arrows at this enemy,” he said.

The Houthis in 2019 launched a drone strike at the base during a military parade, killing at least six military personnel, including a high-ranking intelligence official.

Several top commanders died or suffered serious injuries in that attack. The head of the Yemeni Army’s intelligence service, Gen Mohammed Saleh Tammah, and the deputy chief of staff, Gen Saleh Al-Zandani, were both killed at that attack.

The latest attack comes amid a stalemate in international efforts to broker a peace deal between the government and the rebels.

Footage of the attack showed a drone exploding over a podium around which dozens of military personnel were standing.

The Arab Parliament condemned the attack on Al-Anad airbase, saying it holds the militia, and the Iranian regime that supports it, fully responsible.