Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman has once again come to the aid of Yemeni brethren. In a new directive issued on Wednesday, the King instructed the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Aid to coordinate with the Command of Coalition Forces, legitimate Yemeni government and UN institutions to facilitate the transfer of those wounded in the Great Hall incident in Sanaa on Saturday. All those who need treatment outside Yemen should be transferred to better facilities outside the country, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday, citing the King's directive. This royal directive comes as an extension of the Center's humanitarian initiative for Yemeni brethren. Last month, the Center transferred 43 wounded Yemenis from Taiz to Sudan for treatment at the Center's expense. The Center has also funded the treatment of Yemenis in private hospitals in Aden and Taiz. It also supports public health facilities in Yemen to provide treatment for men, women and children directly as well as through local and international partners. The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center signed in Riyadh on Tuesday an executive program worth $3 million with the International Medical Authority to provide water sterilization and environmental sanitation services to Aden, Taiz, Sanaa, Luhaj, and Ebb. In a related development, the Command of the Coalition Forces supporting legitimacy in Yemen announced on Tuesday that the Saudi Royal Air Defense Forces intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by Houthi militias toward the city of Khamis Mushayt. Meanwhile in Washington, officials said that the US is seeing growing indications that Iran-allied Houthi rebels, despite denials, were responsible for Sunday's attack on a Navy destroyer off the Yemen coast. The rebels appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct a missile attack on the warship, said US officials. The United States is also investigating the possibility that a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also "painted" the USS Mason, something that would have helped the Iran-aligned fighters pass along coordinates for a strike, said the officials. Neither of the two missiles fired from Houthi-controlled territory on Sunday hit the USS Mason or the nearby USS Ponce, an amphibious transport dock. But the incident threatens to trigger the first direct US military action against Houthis in Yemen's conflict, even if it is limited to one-off retaliation. — With agencies
