Cairo/Beirut, Oct 5. (dpa/GNA) – The Humanitarian Operations Coordination Centre affiliated with Yemen’s Houthi movement, on Monday warned airlines operating in Saudi Arabian airspace, declaring it “unsafe” amid the latest military escalation.
The centre was quoted by the Houthi-controlled television station Al-Masirah as saying that, Saudi airspace would become a “theatre for operations” by forces affiliated with the group, while announcing that the “Republic of Yemen” would bear no responsibility following the warning.
The centre said the measure was prompted by what it described as “Saudi aggression” against Yemen through airstrikes, adding that the warning was issued out of concern for the safety of civil aviation.
It exempted the airspace over the cities of Mecca and Medina from any attacks, stressing that the two cities would remain “safe at all times” from its forces.The warning came after Yemen’s Saudi-backed leadership announced an operation dubbed “Dawn of Yemen”, signalling an escalation in fighting with the Iran-aligned Houthis on several fronts, particularly around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a strategic maritime chokepoint linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The rival factions in Yemen have been engaged in heavy fighting for weeks.
In September, the Houthi militia seized control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast in a lightning offensive, also gaining access to the strategically important strait of Bab al-Mandab (Gate of Tears).There was no immediate Saudi comment on the statement.
GNA