Saudis Declare End Of One Yemen Operation, Then Announce A Second

Iranian officials began Tuesday hopeful a ceasefire would bring an end to the relentless air campaign Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have conducted in Yemen for nearly a month now. In the following hours Saudi Arabia announced on television that Operation Decisive Storm was over, that “all the goals had been met” and declared the beginning of a new operation: “Restoring Hope.”

In its statement, the kingdom said the new operation would have more of a political focus, would spend time dealing with helping civilians and counter terrorism.

According to reports, the Saudi defense ministry said it had destroyed all the major weapon arsenals of the Houthi rebels, removed any real threat to the kingdom’s boundaries and would continue its siege on sea ports to prevent the rebels from receiving any new supplies.

Online, Saudi supporters tweeted screen shots of the news declaring the end of the mission. However in Yemen, supporters of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels countered with images of the dead, blaming the Saudi-led air strikes for the deaths of 300 children. Others also showed their confusion about the change in name, while the rebels still maintain control of Sana’a, the capital, and had made significant inroads into Aden, the strategic port city in the south.



Translation of news headline: The end of Decisive Storm after achieving all its goals. Translation of the tweet: The Saudis have made all the Arabs proud. I’m proud that I’m Saudi.