By Ibrahim al-Wedaie
Information is trickling in about the outcome of a Yemeni drone strike that targeted a camp in Lahij where high-level US/Saudi-backed leaders were attending the launch of a new training year for the mercenaries’ military units.
A military source told Al-Masirah that the attack struck a podium at the Al-Anad military base where senior Saudi-backed mercenary leaders attended the graduation ceremony of a new military batch that was being sent to fight against the Yemeni people.
He added that the attack took place at 9:30 am, at the beginning of the parade.
Meanwhile, the aggression-owned media revealed the identity of a number of senior military leaders who were killed and wounded, including the governor of Lahij Major General Ahmed Turki, appointed by the [Hadi] regime.
The aggression-owned media confirmed that high-level officials including the Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Bahri Abdullah Salem Al-Nakhi, the Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj. Gen. Saleh Qaed Al-Zindani, the Deputy Chief of General Staff for Technical Affairs Maj. Gen. Saif Saleh Mohsen al-Zindani, the head of the intelligence unit Maj. Gen. Mohammad Saleh Tammah, the army commander of the fourth military region and the second brigade Hazem Maj. Gen. Fadel Hassan Mohammad, the commander of al-Anad Military Axis and Infantry Brigade 131, Brig. Gen. Thabit Muthanna Jawas, the Director of the Armed Forces Moral Guidance Department Brigadier General Ali Mansour Al-Walidi and the spokesman for the fourth military region Mohammed al-Naqib were killed and wounded.
A large number of dead and injured were reportedly transferred to 6 hospitals in Aden. The hospitals appealed for blood donations, which coincided with a state of high alert on the streets of Aden.
The Aden Algahd News website quoted an eyewitness who said that the drone flew over the area and bombed the podium the moment the military leaders entered, which backs the claims by the Al-Masirah military source.
For its part, the Yafa News website quoted a photojournalist who was at the military ceremony. He said that the explosion was large and that he “saw the moment 15 people were targeted on the podium where the explosion occurred.”
Without being intercepted, an unmanned aircraft was seen approaching the Al-Anad base podium where celebrations were taking place. It landed on the platform and caused a massive explosion.
From a strategic point of view, the Al-Anad strike comes in the context of enhancing the defensive stature of the Yemeni army and the popular committees. That’s according to a regional military expert.
He pointed out that the strike on the base emphasizes three basic points. First, the agreement in Sweden was not the result of weakness on the part of the Sana'a government. The agreement was concluded in a way that preserves the army’s military deterrent capabilities. The recent strike is one of these capabilities.
Second, the attempt to undermine the agreement and the hesitation for implementation by the aggression will be met by military force and in a way that the aggression understands that it is in its interest to implement the agreement and not to procrastinate.
Thirdly, the military action did not go beyond the framework of the agreement, which the army and the committees still respect.
Following the drone strike at the Al-Anad base, a state of panic and shock gripped the aggression camp. According to local media, Aden is witnessing a state of high alert.
Source: Al-Masirah, Translated by website team
