ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 30. – Yemen’s Defence Ministry on Thursday blasted the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for launching airstrikes that have killed and injured about 300 Yemeni government soldiers.
“The Defence Ministry condemned the UAE aerial bombardment launched against the legitimate government in Aden’s outskirts and Zinjibar city of neighboring southern Abyan province,” the ministry said in a press statement released by the state-run Saba news agency.
It added that the UAE airstrikes killed and inured more than 300 army members and civilians.
Around 10 airstrikes have been launched by the UAE in Aden and Abyan since Wednesday evening, and more airstrikes were underway, the statement added.
In another developement, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition targeted a military convoy of Yemeni government forces near Aden earlier Thursday.
A security source said on condition of anonymity that “around three airstrikes targeted a military convoy of the government forces that were heading to fight near Aden.”
The airstrikes destroyed the armored vehicles, leaving around 25 soldiers killed and several others injured in the outskirts of Aden, he added.
Yemen’s Foreign Ministry called upon Saudi government “to stand by the legitimate government and stop this unlawful and unjustified military escalation by the southern separatists.”
Intense battles have broken out between the forces of the Yemeni government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), which are nominal allies within the Saudi-led coalition to fight the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, around Aden since earlier the month.
The STC forces completely secured Aden after aborting a large-scale military operation launched on Wednesday by the Yemeni government to retake the strategic southern city.
Considered as Yemen’s temporary capital, Aden is where the Saudi-backed Yemeni government has based itself since 2015.
The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since late 2014, when the Houthis overran much of the country and seized all northern provinces including the capital Sanaa
