Houthis release new footage of Saudi blitz

The Houthi fighters have released new footage, which they say depict Saudi aircraft targeting civilians in northern Yemeni villages near the border.

The videos released on Friday picture Saudi artillery fire and Saudi fighter jets flying over northern Yemen and bombarding spots, which the Houthis maintain to be civilian positions on the Yemeni soil.

Saudi Arabia’s army has been pounding Houthi positions for over two weeks, charging that the fighters had attacked one of its border checkpoints.

The Houthis, however, have firmly rejected the allegations, saying that they are fighting other battlefields and are not interested in opening another front.

Saudi airstrikes and land incursions coincide with Yemen’s stepped-up crackdown on the Houthis, who are fighting against the government’s political, religious and economic marginalization of the country’s Shia minority.

The Saudi-Yemeni offensive against the Shia fighters has been clouded with claims and counter-claims, with the armies announcing victories against the Houthi fighters, who deny the claims arguing that their positions are not prone to easy identification.

The Saudi army has suffered several losses in its cross-border clashes with the Houthi fighters.

The international community, meanwhile, says that the massive military action has driven hundreds of thousands of civilians out of their homes in and around the battle zone in the north.

Since the beginning of the new military offensive in early August, the Houthi fighters have been accusing Sana’a of seeking help from the Riyadh to eradicate the Shia movement.

Earlier footage released by the Houthis showed Saudi warplanes targeting villages deep inside the Yemeni territory, dropping banned white phosphorus bombs.