Saudi Airstrikes Pound Yemeni Capital, Scores of Horses Killed

Coalition says attacks were all on legitimate military targets

Looking to retaliate after Houthi missile fire into Saudi Arabia, Saudi warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes against different targets in the capital of Sanaa. hitting a presidential palace, a school, and an airbase, along with a military training site.

The coalition insisted that all of the targets hit were “legitimate military targets” that threaten civilians. Casualty reports suggest one person was killed in the strikes, along with about 70 horses who were kept at the military training site.

These are some of the biggest Saudi strikes in months, as both sides had dialed back the attacks to focus on possible peace talks. There is still no deal in sight, but escalations have led them to trade strikes on one another here and there.

Strikes against Sanaa have been controversial because of the large humanitarian toll, and while the Saudis killed overwhelmingly horses this time, it’s going to be difficult for them to argue that this was of any more real military value.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.