The Anad base drone strike was a

Houthi The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...

attack carried out on 10 January 2019 in the

Lahij Governorate Lahij ( ar, لحج ) is a governorate of Yemen. In 2015, the Governorate was subject to the Lahij insurgency, which was part of the Yemeni Civil War. Districts Lahij Governorate is divided into the following 15 districts. These districts are fur ...

near the southern port city of Aden. The strike killed six people attending a military parade, including the head of Yemeni Intelligence, and wounded at least 25 military personnel including a number of senior officers from the

Yemeni army The Armed Forces of Yemen ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الْيَّمَّنِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Musallahah Al-Yamaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of Yemen. They include the Yemeni Army (including ...

, the country's chief of staff, and a government official.

Attack

The attack targeted a military parade at the al-Anad airbase in the

in the south of the country. A sophisticated Qasef-2K model drone exploded over the parade from a height of 20 meters and rained shrapnel down on the ground. This model drone had not previously been used by the Houthis. The wounded included Maj. Gen. Mohammad Saleh Tamah, the head of Yemen's Intelligence Service, Mohammad Jawas, a senior military commander, and Ahmed al-Turki, the governor of Lahij. General Tamah died of his injuries on January 13.Maj. Gen. Mohammad Tamah dies of his injuries in Aden
Aden Press, 13 Jan 2019.

Reaction

The Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV announced that the aims of al-Anad base drone strike were to attack “the leadership of the invaders”. The Houthi drone attack led to pressure on the UN to suspend peace talks in Yemen. "This is an unprecedented and pretty aggressive move for them to be hitting this base," Adam Baron, visiting fellow with the European Council on Human Relations, told ABC News. "The Houthis have not succeeded in carrying out an attack of this magnitude against a Yemeni military installation in quite some time." Jeremy Binnie, a weapons expert who works as the Middle East and Africa editor at Jane's Defence Weekly, said he believes it's the first time the Houthis used this version of the drone in the field.

References

{{reflist 2019 airstrikes Drone strikes in Yemen Houthi insurgency in Yemen January 2019 events in Yemen Lahij Governorate Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)