Yemen Condemns Mocha Attack, Urges Firm Int’l Stance against Houthis

Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)
Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)
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Yemen Condemns Mocha Attack, Urges Firm Int’l Stance against Houthis

Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)
Yemen's PM meets with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen in Riyadh. (Saba)

The Yemeni government condemned on Sunday the attack by the Iran-backed Houthi militias against the Mocha port that left massive destruction at the facility.

The Houthis attacked the port, located west of the Taiz province, with missiles and armed drones on Saturday days after it had resumed operations that had come to a halt during the conflict. The attack destroyed warehouses that were being used by relief agencies to deliver humanitarian aid and others that were used by importers.

The Houthis launched the assault hours before a government delegation was set to arrive at the facility to officially kick off the resumption of its operations. No human casualties were reported.

The government urged the international community to take a firm stance against the Houthis.

Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalek accused the Houthis of insisting on deepening the humanitarian disaster that they caused when they revolted against the legitimate authority and sparked the war in late 2014.

He said the attack is an extension of the militias’ targeting of civilian locations and their systematic destruction of Yemen’s economic infrastructure.

Meeting in Riyadh with the Dutch ambassador to Yemen, he called on the international community to condemn the Houthi crimes and the militias’ constant escalation.

The crimes must not be met with silence, the PM demanded.



Two Killed in Israeli Strike North of Lebanon’s Capital

An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)
An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)
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Two Killed in Israeli Strike North of Lebanon’s Capital

An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)
An ambulance takes wounded to a hospital in Beirut. (AFP)

At least two people were killed in an Israeli strike near the Christian-majority town of Jounieh, north of Beirut, Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday, in the first attack on the area by Israeli forces.

The Israeli military was looking into the report of the strike in Jounieh, a spokesperson said. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group that is fighting Israeli troops on Lebanon's southern border and whose top leadership has suffered blows from targeted Israeli strikes.

The health ministry said the Israeli strike targeted a car.

Two witnesses told Reuters they heard a small blast and saw a Honda sports utility vehicle travelling on the main highway south in the direction of Beirut begin to lose control.

The car stopped about 100 meters down the highway and a man and a woman ran out of the vehicle and into a grassy area on the side of the highway before another blast, the witnesses said.

One witness saw the charred remains of a person in the grassy area.