Houthis Extracted Heavy Bunker Buster Bomb Dropped By Saudi-led Coalition Five Years Ago (Photos)

On July 11, the Yemeni Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) announced that it had extracted the warhead of a heavy bunker buster bomb that was dropped by a warplane of the Saudi-led coalition on the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is held by the Houthis (Ansar Allah), more than five years ago.

At a press conference, Ali Safrah, head of the YEMAC, said that the bomb, a US-made GBU-24 Paveway III, was dropped at Sanaa civil defense center on September 19 of 2015. After penetrating meters into the ground, the bomb’s warhead failed to detonate.

“A mechanical team of the center extracted the American bomb after a drilling operation that lasted for more than two months and descending more than 20 meters into the ground,” Safrah said.

The GBU-24 is guided by semi-active laser. The bomb extracted from Sanaa civil defense center was apparently armed with the BLU-116 advanced unitary penetrator warhead.

The bunker buster bomb, which entered service in 1983, has a mass of 1,050 kilograms, a length of 4.39 meters and a diameter of 460 millimeters.

According to Sarfah, GBU-24 bombs were widely used by the Saudi-led coalition. Bombs of this type were dropped on the Wa’lan Agricultural Complex in Bilad Al-Rus, a residential neighborhood in the al-Sabaeen district, houses in Sawan and Old Sana’a, the al-Aqil Industrial Complex and the Amran Cement Factory.

US support has been critical of the Saudi-led war on Yemen. In fact, weapons supplied by the US and other Western nations make most of the Kingdom’s military capabilities.

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• Combat Footage: Houthis Pushed Saudi-Backed Forces Out Of Key Al-Bayda District
• Al-Bayda Battle: Houthis Continue To Push Back, Recapture District Center From Saudi Forces (Video)

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