Saudi Arabia tight-lipped on losses in attack on Defense Ministry in Riyadh
SANAA, Oct. 23 (YPA) –Saudi Arabia may have suffered heavy losses in Thursday’s attack by Sanaa forces on the Defense Ministry in central Riyadh, according to sources familiar with the matter, as reports emerged that senior military commanders had been killed.
Saudi authorities have not disclosed the commanders’ fate or the extent of the damage.
In a post on X, Abdulqader al-Murtadha, head of the Sanaa government’s National Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs, questioned what had happened at the Saudi Defense Ministry following the reported missile strike.
“What happened at the Saudi Defense Ministry after it was targeted by Yemeni ballistic missiles? Leaked reports say some senior figures were killed!” he wrote.
Al-Murtadha also accused Saudi Arabia of being even more secretive than “Israel” about the results of major Yemeni strikes.
He said Saudi authorities had imposed strict measures banning the filming and publication of footage of the attacks, allegedly extending to the physical elimination of those who filmed them.
“Saudi Arabia must understand that concealing the results will not diminish the impact, significance or danger of these strikes. This is precisely what the Yemeni armed forces understand,” he added.
Sanaa outlines message behind reported attack on Saudi Defense Ministry
The reported strike on the Saudi Defense Ministry headquarters carried a message beyond its immediate military impact, signaling a shift in the targets Sanaa says its forces can reach, political and military affairs expert Brig. Gen. Mujib Shamsan said.
In a press statement, Shamsan said the attack sent Riyadh a direct message that vital infrastructure and military installations were no longer beyond the reach of Sanaa’s forces. He added that Sanaa had identified a list of targets that included highly sensitive strategic sites.
Shamsan described the operation as evidence that Sanaa’s forces were shifting from reacting to developments to taking the initiative on the battlefield. He cited the loss of 18 Saudi aircraft and said military operations had disrupted air traffic at airports in Riyadh, Dammam, Abha, Najran and Jizan.
Assessing what he described as Sanaa’s achievements during 100 days of confrontation, Shamsan referred to a policy of “blockade for blockade.” He said Yemeni operations had narrowed Saudi Arabia’s options, forced 34 ships to turn away from Saudi ports and halted oil exports through the Red Sea.
Shamsan also claimed that the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia had been making military preparations since the truce. He said developments on the ground had thwarted those preparations and altered the strategic calculations of the confrontation.
@E.Y.M