RIYADH (AFP) – The coalition fighting rebels in Yemen destroyed a communications system yesterday used for drone attacks and located near the telecoms ministry in Sanaa, it said in a statement.
Riyadh intervened in the Yemeni civil war in 2015 to support the government against the Houthi rebels, who control a large part of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa.
“We have destroyed a communication system used to operate drone control stations,” the coalition was quoted as saying by the official Saudi news agency SPA.
“The Houthis are using the Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology in Sanaa for hostile operations,” it added.
An AFP correspondent in Sanaa confirmed coalition air strikes had targetted several areas of the capital around the ministry.
It was not immediately possible to determine if there were any casualties.
It was the first time the coalition has targeted a civilian ministry, having so far only attacked the Defence Ministry.
The coalition said the raids were in response to a drone attack on Thursday on a Saudi airport near the border which left 12 injured by falling debris after the Saudi military blew up the “bomb-laden” projectile.
The coalition had warned it would strike positions from which the Huthis launch drones in Sanaa and asked civilians to leave civilian areas used for military purposes.
