Saudi Arabia strikes several regions of Yemen despite ceasefire

In this file photo taken on February 23, 2020, smoke billows following an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemeni capital Sana'a. (Photo by AFP)

The Saudi-led coalition has once again carried out airstrikes in a number of Yemeni provinces despite its earlier announcement of a ceasefire to stem the coronavirus pandemic.

The Saudi-led coalition's warplanes bombarded residential areas in the cities of Sarwah and Mojzer in the western province of Ma’rib. They also carried out similar air raids in the provinces of Sa’ada and al-Jawf.

Meanwhile, a Yemeni woman was killed by Saudi and Emirati snipers in the province of Ta’iz.

The fresh airstrikes came less than 48 hours after the Saudi warplanes bombarded Wadi Dhahr area of the Hamdan district in the capital, Sana’a, as well as an area close to its hospital three times.

In the early hours of Thursday, Saudi fighter jets also carried out strikes against Aroush and Watda areas of Khawlan district, Sana’a Province.

The airstrikes come despite claims by the invaders that they were halting military operations in support of United Nations peace efforts and to avoid further spread of the new coronavirus in Yemen.

On April 8, Riyadh claimed it would halt all military operations for two weeks to counter the spread the Coronavirus. But since then, it has violated the ceasefire numerous times.

Yemen’s Houthi Ansarullah movement has dismissed the ceasefire claim as “false and misleading”, saying the Saudi Arabia-led coalition had even escalated their offensives against Yemen.

Riyadh and its allies have been widely criticized for the high civilian death toll resulted from their bombing campaign in Yemen since early 2015.

At least 80 percent of the 28 million-strong population of Yemen is reliant on aid to survive in what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.