Yemeni forces target off-shore UAE-run base

This file photo shows Yemeni Ansarullah fighters taking part in a gathering in the capital, Sana’a, January 3, 2017. (By AFP)

Yemeni army soldiers, backed by fighters from allied Popular Committees, have reportedly launched a missile attack against a naval base run by soldiers from the United Arab Emirates off the western coast of Yemen.

Yemeni forces and their allies fired a Borkan-1 (Volcano-1) missile at the al-Ghazat base on Zuqar Island in the Red Sea, which lies between the coasts of mainland Yemen and Eritrea, on Tuesday morning, Arabic-language al-Masirah television network reported.

Information was not immediately available on possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.

Saudi Arabia launched a war on Yemen in 2015 in an attempt to bring back to power a former regime that had been Riyadh-friendly.

According to the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, the Yemeni conflict has claimed the lives of 10,000 people and left 40,000 others wounded.

McGoldrick told reporters in Sana’a on January 16 that the figure is based on lists of victims gathered by health facilities and the actual number might be higher.

Local Yemeni sources say the Saudi war has killed at least 11,400 people.

Yemeni forces have been fighting the Saudi war back, including by launching retaliatory measures against Saudi forces and their local mercenaries.

This photo, provided by Yemen’s Joint Operations Command, shows Houthi Ansarullah fighters in an undisclosed location in the Midi district of the northwestern Hajjah Province, Yemen, on January 30, 2017.

Yemeni forces foil mercenaries’ advance in Hajjah

Separately, scores of Saudi-sponsored militiamen loyal to Yemen’s former government were killed and wounded in the Midi district of the northwestern Hajjah Province as Yemeni soldiers and Popular Committee fighters thwarted their offensive.

Saudi soldiers also fired a missile at a gathering of pro-Saudi Arabia gunmen in the central Yemeni province of Ma’rib, leaving scores of them injured.

Yemeni snipers shoot dead Saudi soldier in Jizan

Meanwhile, Yemeni soldiers and their allied fighters have shot and killed a Saudi soldier in the hilly Qomamah area in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Jizan.

This photo, provided by Yemen’s Joint Operations Command, shows the aftermath of an attack by Yemeni soldiers and their allied Houthi Ansarullah fighters in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern border region of Jizan on January 30, 2017.

Yemeni forces also launched a barrage of artillery shells at the Mohtam outpost in the same Saudi region, but no words on casualties were available.

Yemeni soldiers, pro-Saudi militiamen exchange prisoners

In a separate development, Yemeni soldiers and Saudi-backed armed men swapped prisoners in the northern province of al-Jawf under an earlier agreement reached between the two sides.

A local source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Houthi Ansarullah fighters released 54 pro-Hadi militiamen in exchange for 58 fellow fighters.

Saudi attacks

Also on Tuesday, Saudi fighter jets targeted Jubah Bridge in the Hays district of Yemen’s coastal western province of Hudaydah. Initial reports said two people sustained injuries in the airstrike.

An explosion follows a Saudi airstrike on an army base in Sana’a, Yemen, January 11, 2017. (Photo by AP)

Saudi warplanes also dropped a number of internationally-banned cluster bombs in the Rahban district of the northwestern mountainous province of Sa’ada, leaving several buildings damaged there.

Dozens of civilians lost their lives and sustained injuries as Saudi military aircraft bombed the bridge linking the Red Sea port city of Mokha to the city of Hudaydah.

Moreover, Saudi jets carried out a series of airstrikes against the city of Sirwah, which lies about 120 kilometers east of the capital, though no reports of casualties were quickly available.

A radio mast was also brought down in the al-Marawi’ah district of Hudaydah Province as Saudi warplanes targeted it.