Yemeni forces launch 4 missiles at Saudi-run base in central Yemen

Yemeni army forces, backed by allied fighters from Popular Committees, have fired at least four short-range domestically-manufactured missiles at a Saudi-run military base in Yemen’s west-central province of Sana’a, in retaliation for the Saudi regime’s campaign against the impoverished country, Yemeni media report.

Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah television network, citing a military source, reported that the Zelzal-1 missiles, with an average range of 150 kilometers, were launched against the Fardha military base, operated by Saudi mercenaries, in Nihm district on Monday afternoon.

The report added that the projectiles had hit the designated targets with great precision, leaving losses in the “enemy” ranks and its military equipment.

On Sunday, the Yemeni forces also launched a domestically-manufactured Zalzal-2 ballistic missile, with an average range of 210 kilometers, at the Ain al-Thwareen base in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region in retaliation for Saudi airstrikes, which hit its target and left an unknown number of casualties.

Saudi Arabia often claims that it intercepts incoming Yemeni missiles, but a close study of evidence by The New York Times last year clearly suggested that in one of the most high-profile of such Yemeni missile attacks, the projectile, launched deep into Saudi territory, had in fact landed unimpeded, bypassing American-made Patriot missiles and potentially other defenses used by Riyadh. Saudi Arabia claimed that it had foiled that attack, which targeted the Riyadh airport.

The Saudi-led war began in March 2015 in support of a former Riyadh-friendly Yemeni regime.

The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights announced in a statement on March 25 that the Saudi-led war had left 600,000 civilians dead and injured until then.

The Saudi-led countries engaged in the war on Yemen have also blockaded the already-impoverished country.

The United Nations says a record 22.2 million people in Yemen are in need of food aid, including 8.4 million threatened by severe hunger.