Less than 24 hours after Yemen announced an end to Operation Decisive Storm [3] and its airstrikes on Yemen - in hopes of initiating Operation New Hope aimed at resuming a political process - The NY Times reports, [4] warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition conducted airstrikes in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz on Wednesday. Mission Dis-accomplished or Operation 'Empire Strikes Back'?
Warplanes from a Saudi-led military coalition conducted airstrikes in the southwestern Yemeni city of Taiz on Wednesday, hours after Saudi officials had announced they were halting their nearly monthlong bombing campaign against the Houthi rebel movement.
The warplanes bombed Houthi positions during heavy clashes in Taiz on Wednesday morning, according to a local official in the city. The new airstrikes, combined with reports of continued fighting in other parts of the country, including the southern port city of Aden, dampened hopes that the Saudi announcement would quickly result in a broader cease-fire.
A Yemeni man checked a house in Sana after a bombing that killed at least 25 people. Sana has been bombed almost daily for more than three weeks, damaging factories, gas stations and residential neighborhoods.
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The warplanes struck the Houthis in the morning. “There are many deaths on both sides,” Mr. Haj said.
In Aden, where weeks of urban warfare have destroyed neighborhoods and killed hundreds of people, there were exchanges of tank fire between the Houthis and their adversaries, mainly local fighters who favor an independent, southern state, residents said.
“The Houthis are still bombing and still sniping people,” said one local fighter. “They have not started moving away from Aden.”
In a statement quoted by Reuters, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, an ally of the Houthis, had welcomed the Saudis’ announcement of a halt to bombing.
“We hope that everybody will return to dialogue to solve and treat all the issues,” the news agency quoted him as saying.
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The bombing will continue until morale improves... or there's nothing left to bomb like in Donetsk.
