On coalition forces interception of ships used for smuggling and whether there are bombarding via battleships, he disclosed that coalition forces are keeping vigilant eyes on navigation towards Neion Island, as it launched an airstrike and destroyed what the Houthi militias attempted to conceal, in the island, indicating that the coalition forces don't have, for the time being, any information that these groups have been captured or intercepted, if any, there are norms governing treatment of smugglers. Smuggling, he stated, across Yemen and the Horn of Africa is an old and ongoing activity since long time and there are a rapid deployment works, in this area, drawing the attention to the great decrease of smuggling compared to the past and that there are readiness to pursue smugglers. Brig. Gen. Asiri, answering a question on battleships bombarding, reiterated that there are no operations launched by the coalition forces from on the board of the battleships, till now, targeting the coast, adding that they just give a hand in evacuating nationals from Aden, to the ships. Whether there is a plan for the coalition forces to wage a double strike to the Houthis as well as Al-Qaeda, Asiri said Al-Qaeda is acting in Yemen, since a long time and due to the failure of the international community in following up such affairs and supporting the Houthi acts, led to the weakening of the prestige of the Yemeni, hence Al-Qaeda took the advantage to greatly reactivate and resurged. In trial, recently, to fish in the turbulent water to distract coalition forces from their operations towards them, the Houthis set free Al-Qaeda prisoners, in Mukalla prison, however, the first thing done by the former prisoners who were recently set free, was targeting and robbing the Central Bank. Engaging the terrorist outfits such as Al-Qaeda, he underscored, is different from engaging militias like the Houthis, who aim to divert the attention of the coalition from military operations, pointing that the work is underway to evaluate the situation in Mukalla, when the time becomes appropriate to launch the operations. Criminals and terrorists among Al-Qaeda, concealed, now, inside houses and among the population, asserting that the goals of the coalition forces, since the beginning of the operations, is to protect the citizens and avoid targeting dwelling houses. -- SPA 00:13 LOCAL TIME 21:13 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w