The escalation continues between Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen and Sunni Gulf countries, who carried out deadly retaliatory strikes on Friday (January 21st). In addition to a very heavy toll, the country risks plunging into a blackout, following the collapse of Internet communications.
“First images of aviation crime” enemy, title the Yemeni site Al-Masirah to accompany a video showing the destruction caused by this raid. The site accuses the Saudi-Emirati coalition of having bombed a prison in Saada, the main stronghold of the Houthis, in North Yemen.
All week, this pro-Houthi site has been reporting news of coalition airstrikes once morest Houthi targets, in retaliation for Monday’s (January 17) drone attack on targets in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, claimed by pro-Iran rebels.
The following night, Saudi-Emirati aircraft had bombed the capital, Sanaa, held by the Houthis. But following a brief return to calm, the air raids resumed with renewed vigour.
Destroyed launch pads
This Friday, January 21, a new air raid would have left some 70 dead and 138 injured, according to a still provisional assessment given by Doctors Without Borders.
Already last night, the daily d’Abou Dhabi The National indicated that the coalition had “destroyed ballistic launch pads in the eastern province of Al-Bayda” and “Houthi capabilities in Hodeidah”, port on the Red Sea, in the West. And, here too, the site Al-Masirah upload a video of “appalling crime once morest civilians” committed by “American-Zionist-Saudi-Emirati enemy air force”.
Although the media reports only two deaths due to this bombardment, it might have dramatic consequences in the days to come. He is said to have destroyed a telecommunications plant and caused the interruption of all Internet communications in the country. And this including in areas controlled by pro-government forces or secessionists in South Yemen.
communication war
“It’s hell on earth”, Yemeni researcher Afrah Nasser wrote on Twitter. “Innocent civilians are being bombarded in cold blood, while the internet is shut down. At least 300 people have been killed or injured in the past twenty-four hours.”
This interruption of the means of communication not only risks further disorganizing this country, already one of the poorest on the planet before this war which has ravaged it for almost eight years, but also makes journalistic coverage more difficult.
In the meantime, the war of communication between the belligerents takes over. With sometimes unexpected effects: the video published by the site Al-Masirah indeed shows not only the victims of the bombardments, but also the deplorable conditions that the Houthis reserve for their prisoners.
Philippe Mischkowsky