SANAA: Hundreds of thousands of Huthi rebel supporters flooded the streets of Yemen’s capital Monday to mark three years of war, hours after Riyadh intercepted seven missiles fired from rebel territory.
A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen on March 26, 2015 to restore the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after the Iran-backed Huthis and their allies took over large parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.
Sanaa’s Sabaeen Square on Monday was a sea of Yemeni flags, with a smattering of posters bearing pictures of Huthi leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi and the slogan “three years of aggression”.
Rebel authorities ordered all schools and government offices shut for the anniversary.
Speakers blasted out a fiery speech of Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the powerful Shiite group allied with the insurgents, in which he praised the “steadfastness” of the Yemeni people.
On the stage, male dancers dressed in traditional clothing with rifles hoisted on their shoulders performed for the crowd, broadcast on a massive screen.
“No one can speak on behalf of the Yemeni people. People taking to the streets today is the real voice,” Ibtisam al-Mutawakel, head of the rebel cultural committee, told AFP.
“As for the missiles, those are the message of our army and popular committees to the enemy,” Mutawakel added, referring to the Huthi-aligned military brigades and paramilitaries.