Yemenis hold funeral for assassinated Ansarullah official in Sana'a

Tens of thousands of Yemenis have taken to the streets of the capital, Sana’a, to hold a funeral procession for a senior official from the Ansarullah Movement who was martyred in a Saudi airstrike.

According to Press TV, the Yemenis gathered in Sana'a on Saturday to pay tribute to Saleh al-Samad, the Chairman of Yemen’s Supreme Political Council, who lost his life in a Saudi air raid on his residence in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah on April 19.

The Lebanese al-Mayadeen television channel reported a Saudi strike near the funeral ceremony but there were no immediate reports of possible casualties.

Samad was an influential figure in Yemen’s resistance against a more-than-three-year-old war imposed by Riyadh on the impoverished country. He was also number two on the Saudi-led coalition’s most wanted list.

Ansarullah Leader Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi held the US and Saudi Arabia responsible for Samad’s assassination, saying, “This crime won’t go unanswered.”

Yemen’s Defense Ministry also vowed a “crushing response” to the assassination of the Ansarullah official.

In a separate development, Saudi media reported that several Ansarullah figures had been martyred in an airstrike on Sana'a on Friday evening.

Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television network said a total of 38 Ansarullah fighters had lost their lives in the strike that had targeted an interior ministry building.

Riyadh-based Al Ekhbariya TV channel also said two high-ranking Ansarullah fighters were among the victims.

Saudi Arabia and its allies launched the war in March 2015 in support of Yemen’s former Riyadh-friendly government and against the Ansarullah Movement, which is currently running state affairs.

The military campaign has martyred and injured over 600,000 civilians, according to the latest figures released by the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights.

ME