Israel fires at Yemen airport when a UN delegation was visiting and a civilian plane landed there: photo
Kyiv • UNN
Israeli aircraft attacked Sanaa airport as an Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers was landing there. The attack injured members of the UN delegation, including a humanitarian representative.
Israeli aircraft shelled the airport in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa as a civilian Airbus 320 with hundreds of passengers on board landed there. The shelling also injured members of the UN delegation. This was reported by the Associated Press (AP), UNN reports .
Details
The UN's top humanitarian official in Yemen, Julien Harneys, told the agency that two airstrikes on Thursday, December 26, hit him and about 15 other people who were in the VIP lounge of the Sanaa International Airport. Among them was the director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Ghebreyesus.
However, the most horrific, according to Harneys, was the destruction of the airport's control tower when a Yemenia Airways plane taxied after landing.
Fortunately, this plane was able to land safely and the passengers were able to get off, but it could have been much, much worse
According to him, at about 16:45 local time, one rocket struck about 300 meters south of the VIP hall, and the other about 300 meters north.
At that moment, about five members of the UN team were outside the building.
Obviously, not only did we not have any signs of potential airstrikes, but we cannot remember the last time there were airstrikes in Sanaa during daylight hours
He added that he received a serious shrapnel wound to his leg and lost a lot of blood.
According to him, immediately after the airstrikes, UN security officers took the delegation out of the VIP building and put them in five armored vehicles, where they waited for about 40 minutes to find out what had happened and to help the wounded crew member.
According to Harneys, he was taken to a hospital in Sanaa and operated on within four hours, while the rest of the delegation spent the night at the UN building.
The plane carrying WHO Director-General Ghebreyesus and the UN team, including an injured crew member, was able to fly to Jordan in the afternoon of December 27 without a working control tower.
It is noted that the UN reported that the wounded crew member was taken to a hospital in Jordan, and Gebreisus returned to Geneva to the WHO headquarters.
Recall
The Israeli Air Force attacked Sana'a airport and the port of Hodeidah in Yemen in response to a rocket attack. The strikes were aimed at infrastructure facilities, including power plants, following a Houthi attack on central Israel.
