Saudis Attack Yemen’s Sanaa Airport

Aid groups ordered away from airport ahead of attack

Earlier Monday, Saudi Arabia issued a statement ordering aid groups away from the airport in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa. Not long after, they attacked the airport with airstrikes.

Exactly what the Saudis were attacking isn’t entirely clear. They said that the attacks were on “legitimate military targets,” and suggested that it was something to do with cross-border attacks.

Saudi forces hit several sites around the capital, including two privately-owned workshops, which they claimed were involved in assembling drones.

The Saudis have been attacking Sanaa at an increased rate in recent weeks, and have made a point to insist the targets were legitimate. They have said locals have nothing to fear if they avoid military targets.

The problem is that the Saudi targets aren’t always obvious targets. Sites are claimed to have underground caves nearby and the like, things which civilian bystanders couldn’t have possibly known about.

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.