In this satellite image provided by Planet Labs PBC, smoke rises over an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in the Mussafah neighborhood of Abu Dhabi, Jan. 17, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Yemens deputy foreign minister says airstrikes launched against Sanaa by the Saudi-led coalition have killed around 20 people, including the entire members of a family.
Among the deaths, about 14 people were killed in a the home of a former army official, Reuters quoted a medical source and residents as saying Tuesday.
The strike in Libby neighborhood of the Yemeni capital killed him, his wife, his 25-year-old son and other family members, they said.
Yemens al-Masirah TV said strikes launched late Monday and early Tuesday also damaged houses, and wounded about a dozen people. They appeared to be the deadliest since 2019 on Sanaa.
The ferocious aerial campaign came after Yemen carried out missile and drone operations against strategic facilities in the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for its role in the protracted Saudi war on the country.
Al-Masirah said the kingdom had carried out more than 50 air raids on several areas across Yemen, including the central Marib province, over the past 24 hours.
"The coalitions warplanes waged 31 raids on al-Wadi, al-Jubah and Harib districts of Marib province, while eight airstrikes hit Ain district of Shabwa province and seven other targeted Sawmaah district of al-Bayda province," the network said.
Two air raids hit al-Yatama area in the Khab Washaf district of the northern Jawf province, and two others targeted Magbanah district in the southwestern province of Taizz.
Saudi-led coalition aircraft also attacked al-Jarrahi district in the south of the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah and launched another raid on Haradh district in the northern province of Hajjah.
Earlier in the day, the Yemeni army launched an operation deep inside the United Arab Emirates in retaliation for its role in the Saudi-led war on the impoverished country.
Abu Dhabi police said three fuel tanker trucks had exploded in the industrial Musaffah area, near the storage facilities of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and that a fire had also broken out at a construction site at Abu Dhabi International Airport.
At least three people were killed and six others wounded in the attack, according to Emirati authorities.
Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree confirmed the retaliatory attack and said Yemeni troops had launched the military operation "deep inside the UAE."
Providing details about "Operation Hurricane Yemen", Saree said in a statement that it was successfully carried out with five ballistic missiles and a large number of drones in response to the recent escalation of the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression.
"Operation Hurricane Yemen targeted the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports, the Musaffah oil refinery in Abu Dhabi and a number of important and sensitive Emirati sites and facilities," the statement said.
"The armed forces are implementing today what they promised and they renewed their warning to the coalition countries that they will receive more painful blows," it added.
The statement also warned foreign citizens and their companies, as well as other residents of the UAE to stay away from strategic sites and facilities for their own safety.
"We will not hesitate to expand the scope of targets to include more important sites and facilities in the coming period, declaring that the UAE is an unsafe state as long as its aggressive escalation against Yemen continues," Saree underlined.
AP: Satellite photos show aftermath
The Associated Press said on Tuesday it had obtained satellite photos showing the aftermath of Yemens attack on an oil facility in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The images by Planet Labs PBC showed smoke rising over an Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. fuel depot in the Mussafah neighborhood of Abu Dhabi, the news agency said.
Another image taken shortly after appeared to show scorch marks and white fire-suppressing foam deployed on the grounds of the depot, it said.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., known by the acronym ADNOC, is the state-owned energy firm that provides much of the wealth of the UAE, a federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula also home to Dubai.
ADNOC had said the attack happened around 10 a.m. Monday. "We are working closely with the relevant authorities to determine the exact cause and a detailed investigation has commenced," it said in an earlier statement.
Saudi Arabia, backed by the United States and regional allies, launched the war on Yemen in March 2015, with the goal of bringing the government of former Yemeni president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi back to power and crushing the Ansarullah movement.
The war has left hundreds of thousands of Yemenis dead and displaced millions more. It has also destroyed Yemens infrastructure and spread famine and infectious diseases there.
Despite heavily-armed Saudi Arabias incessant bombardment of the impoverished country, the Yemeni armed forces and the Popular Committees have grown steadily in strength against the invaders and left Riyadh and its allies bogged down in the country.
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