Sanaa, Mar 26: A Saudi-led coalition fighting Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on the capital and a strategic Red Sea city, officials said Saturday. At least seven people were killed.
The overnight airstrikes on Sanaa and Hodeida both held by the Houthis came a day after the rebels attacked an oil depot in the Saudi city of Jiddah, their highest-profile assault yet on the kingdom.
Brig. Gen. Turki al-Malki, a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition, said the strikes targeted sources of threat to Saudi Arabia, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
He said the coalition intercepted and destroyed two explosives-laden drones early Saturday. He said the drones were launched from Houthi-held civilian oil facilities in Hodeida, urging civilians to stay away from oil facilities in the city.
Footage circulated online showed flames and plumes of smoke over Sanaa and Hodeida. Associated Press journalists in the Yemeni capital heard loud explosions that rattled residential buildings there.
The Houthis said the coalition airstrikes hit a power plant, a fuel supply station and the state-run social insurance office in the capital.
A Houthi media office claimed an airstrike hit houses for guards of the social insurance office, killing at least seven people and wounding three others, including women and children.
The office shared images it said showed the aftermath of the airstrike. It showed wreckage in the courtyard of a social insurance office with the shattered windows of a nearby multiple-story building.
In Hodeida, the Houthi media office said the coalition hit oil facilities in violation of a 2018 cease-fire deal that ended months of fighting in Hodeida, which handles about 70% of Yemen's commercial and humanitarian imports. The strikes also hit the nearby Port Salif, also on the Red Sea.
Al-Malki, the coalition spokesperson, was not immediately available for comment on the Houthi claims.
The escalation is likely to complicate efforts by the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, to reach a humanitarian truce during the holy month of Ramadan in early April.
It comes as the Gulf Cooperation Council plans to host the warring sides for talks late this month. The Houthis however have rejected Riyadh the Saudi capital where the GCC is headquartered as a venue for talks, which are expected to include an array of Yemeni factions.
Yemen's brutal war erupted in 2014 after the Houthis seized Sanaa. Months later, Saudi Arabia and its allies launched a devastating air campaign to dislodge the Houthis and restore the internationally recognized government.
The conflict has in recent years become a regional proxy war that has killed more than 150,000 people, including over 14.500 civilians. It also created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.
The Houthis' Friday attack came ahead of a Formula One race in the kingdom on Sunday, raising concerns about Saudi Arabia's ability to defend itself against the Iranian-backed rebels.
Friday's attack targeted the same fuel depot that the Houthis had attacked in recent days the North Jiddah Bulk Plant that sits just southeast of the city's international airport and is a crucial hub for Muslim pilgrims heading to Mecca.
In Egypt, hundreds of passengers were stranded at Cairo International Airport after their Jiddah-bound flights were canceled because of the Houthi attack, according to airport officials.
The kingdom's flagship carrier Saudia announced the cancelation of two flights on its website. The two had 456 passengers booked. A third canceled flight with 146 passengers was operated by the low-cost Saudi airline Flynas.
Some passengers found seats on other Saudi Arabia-bound flights and others were booked into hotels close to the Cairo airport, according to Egyptian officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because there were not authorized to brief media.
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New Delhi, Mar 29: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh each for sharing information leading to the arrest of two key accused, one of them using Hindu names to hide identity, in Bengaluru's Rameshwaram Cafe blast case.
The agency requested the general public for information on the duo -- Mussavir Hussain Shazib alias Shazeb alias Md Juned Hussain alias Mohammed Juned Sayed and Abdul Matheen Ahmed Taahaa alias Abdul Matheen Taha alias Matheen alias Taha alias Vignesh D alias Sumit "or any other assumed Hindu name" -- wanted in the case, according to its posts on X.
Taha, aged about 30 years, has been using Hindu identity documents, forged Aadhaar card in the name of Vignesh or other similar forged ID documents to conceal identity, the NIA said.
The agency shared their pictures and identified men's/boys' hostel, PG/sharing accommodations/ low budget hotels and lodges as their preferred places of stay.
The NIA said accused Shazib, aged 30 years, prefers to wear "jeans, T-shirt and shirt" and "black smart watch".
Both Shazib and Taha often wear "mask, wig and fake beard", it said.
Whoever provides any information leading to the arrest of the accused person shall be given Rs 10 lakh reward, the NIA said in identical public notice on each of the accused, shared on X.
People can share details regarding these two accused through email at info.blr.nia@gov.in or through telephone numbers 080-29510900, 8904241100, besides the NIA's office in Bengaluru.
"Identity of (the) informer will be kept secret," it said.
In a major breakthrough, the NIA had on Wednesday arrested Muzammil Shareef, the key conspirator in the blast case.
NIA investigations have revealed that Muzammil Shareef had extended logistic support to these two wanted accused in the case, involving an IED explosion at the cafe located at ITPL Road, Brookefield, Bengaluru, on March 1.
Muzammil Shareef was picked up on Wednesday and placed in custody as a co-conspirator after NIA teams cracked down at 18 locations, including 12 in Karnataka, five in Tamil Nadu and one in Uttar Pradesh.
The NIA took over the probe on March 3.
Several customers and hotel staff members were injured, some of them grievously, in the blast, which caused extensive damage to the property.
Request for Information, Identity of the Informer will be kept Secret. pic.twitter.com/PBXPRH3DtB
— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 29, 2024
Request for Information, Identity of the Informer will be kept Secret. pic.twitter.com/JkMUWay23m
— NIA India (@NIA_India) March 29, 2024