Yemen update 10/20\2015.. Saudi jets bombard areas across Yemen

Over 7000 Yemenis killed in Saudi attacks since late March

Yemen: security a priority in Aden as local forces get organised

Two Saudi soldiers captured sending letters to families and leadership

PressTV-Saudi jets bombard areas across Yemen

Saudi fighter jets have conducted a fresh round of attacks against several areas across Yemen.

On Tuesday morning, Saudi fighter jets struck a commercial neighborhood of al-Rahidah district in Yemen’s southwestern province of Ta’izz, though no reports of casualties were available.

Saudi warplanes also launched two aerial attacks on the Selo district of the same province, Yemen’s Arabic-language al-Masirah satellite television network reported.

Scores of civilians were also killed and injured as Saudi aircraft bombed the police department at the provincial capital city of Ta’izz, situated 260 kilometers (166 miles) south of the capital, Sana’a.

Early on Tuesday, Saudi jets launched airstrikes against a residential area in the Razeh district of Yemen’s mountainous northwestern province of Sa’ada, leaving two civilians dead.

Late on Monday, Saudi warplanes pounded the Dar al-Shoja’ area in the Mokha port city, situated 346 kilometers (214 miles) south of the capital, Sana’a, though no reports of casualties were available.

Separately, Saudi aircraft carried out aerial assaults on the city of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers (75 miles) east of the capital, on Monday evening. There were no immediate reports of possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

Saudi jets also bombarded the international airport in the southwestern Yemeni city of Ta’izz, situated 346 kilometers (214 miles) south of Sana’a, on Monday. No casualties were reported.

Cluster bombs

Moreover, Saudi warplanes dropped at least 10 cluster bombs on the Haydan district of Sa’ada Province, on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Yemeni army soldiers, along with fighters from Popular Committees, repelled an offensive by Saudi-led forces against the al-Labnat military camp in Yemen’s northern province of al-Jawf, killing and injuring an unspecified number of Saudi-backed troops.

Nine people also lost their lives and twenty others sustained injuries when a bomb explosion ripped through a post office in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, situated 346 kilometers (214 miles) south of the capital, on Monday.

Yemen has been under military strikes by Saudi Arabia on a daily basis since March 26. The strikes are supposedly meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

According to a new tally, at least 7,000 people have reportedly lost their lives in the Saudi strikes, and a total of nearly 14,000 people have been injured since March.

US to sell Saudi Arabia four warships worth over $11 billion

The administration of US President Barack Obama has approved a deal worth billions of dollars to sell Saudi Arabia four advanced warships.

The US Defense Department said on Tuesday that it has notified Congress of the $11.25 billion deal after the State Department approved the sale to the Saudi government.

US lawmakers have one month to reject the sale, although such measures are rare since potential deals are carefully examined before formal notification.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign military sales, notified Congress on Monday about the potential sale of the Lockheed Martin combat ships.

The ships are relatively small but designed to be fast and maneuverable in shallow water.

“This sale demonstrates the enduring US commitment to building robust diplomatic and security partnerships essential to promoting peace and stability in the [Persian] Gulf region,” said one US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The sale comes as the Saudi regime has come under increasing criticism over civilian casualties from its airstrikes against Yemen and a harsh crackdown on political dissidents inside the country.