Saudi-led coalition strike kills four Houthi commanders

By Ali Oweida

MAARIB, Yemen (AA) - At least four Houthi field commanders were killed in Yemen’s Sanaa in an airstrike carried out by a Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa’s Nahm directorate, according to the Yemeni military.

In a Friday statement, the military said that coalition aircraft had targeted a meeting of Houthi commanders in the Nahm directorate’s Wadi Saf region.

Carried out Thursday, the airstrike led to the death of Houthi commander Yasser Abdullah Amir, along with three other Houthi leaders from Yemen’s northern Saada province, according to the army statement.

The Nahm directorate continues to witness frequent fighting between Houthi rebels and the coalition-backed Yemeni army that has left hundreds of dead and injured on both sides.

Yemen has been wracked by conflict since 2014, when Shia Houthi rebels overran much of the country, including capital Sanaa.

The conflict escalated in 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its Sunni-Arab allies -- who accuse the Houthis of serving as Iranian proxies -- launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back Houthi gains and shoring up the country’s pro-Saudi government.

UN-sponsored peace talks held in Kuwait the following year failed to end the destructive conflict.