Yemeni armed forces to put new domestically-built missiles, drones on display: Spox

A high-ranking Yemeni military official says Yemeni Armed Forces are to unveil new domestically-designed and developed military hardware, including ballistic missiles, winged rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The spokesman for Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Wednesday that the achievements will be showcased soon.

“The detection, tracking and targeting capabilities of the new armament will turn a new page in the history of the Yemeni military, especially as the advanced weapons have undergone successful experimental stages and proved their effectiveness,” Saree pointed out.

“Yemeni armed forces are working strenuously to develop their defense capabilities to stop the (Saudi-led) aggression and lift the blockade of Yemen. This falls within the framework of our legitimate rights to defend ourselves, our country, our people, our religion and our dignity,” the senior Yemeni official said.

The remarks came less than a day after Yemeni army forces and fighters from allied Popular Committees launched a string of airstrikes at Saudi military positions in the kingdom’s southern regions in retaliation for the Riyadh regime’s deadly military campaign against their country. 

Saree said on Tuesday evening that Yemeni troops and their allies had carried out aerial assaults against designated targets at Jizan Airport and Abha International Airport in Saudi Arabia’s southwestern province of Asir, using a squadron of domestically-manufactured Qasef-2K (Striker-2K) combat drones.

He emphasized that the attacks led to the suspension of flights at the airports.

Also on Wednesday, Yemeni troops and their allies mounted an offensive against the positions of Saudi-backed militiamen loyal to Yemen’s former president Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in Qanieh region of Yemen’s central province of Bayda. A large number of Saudi mercenaries were killed and injured in the process.

Elsewhere in Saudi Arabia’s southern border regions of Jizan and Najran, Yemeni army forces and Popular Committees fighters pounded the strongholds of Saudi-paid militiamen, inflicting heavy losses on them.

Moreover, Arabic-language Sahafatak news website has published video footage, showing aircraft debris being carried away on board a number of heavy duty trucks.

The news website asserted that the aircraft had been hit and badly damaged following an earlier Yemeni drone strike on Jizan Airport.