Yemeni Forces Hit Saudi Mercenaries’ Camp in Asir with Zelzal-1 Missile

By Staff, Agencies

Yemeni army and allied forces fired a domestically-manufactured ballistic missile at a camp in Saudi Arabia’s southern region of Asir belonging to Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen’s former president, killing dozens of them and injuring several others.

An unnamed Yemeni military source told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that Yemeni missile defense units launched a Zelzal-1 [Earthquake-1] missile at a position of Saudi mercenaries near al-Alab border crossing on Thursday afternoon.

He added that the missile hit the designated target with great precision, leaving dozens of Saudi-paid militiamen dead or injured.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni snipers fired shots at a group of Saudi troopers south of Harad district in Yemen’s northwestern province of Hajjah, killing and injuring several of them.

Separately, Yemeni forces targeted a dozen Saudi-paid militiamen with a roadside bomb as they were traveling along a road south of Hayran district in the country’s northern province of al-Jawf. A number of the Riyadh regime’s mercenaries were killed or injured as a result.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah revolutionary movement.

The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project [ACLED], a nonprofit conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than 91,000 lives over the past four and a half years.

The war has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s infrastructure, destroying hospitals, schools, and factories. The UN says over 24 million Yemenis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, including 10 million suffering from extreme levels of hunger.