Members of a local armed resistance group, supporting President Abd-RabbuMansour Hadi, gathering in the streets of Dar Saad district at the northern entrance to the city of Aden in preparation to face Houthi fighters, yesterday.
DPA/AFP
Sanaa
A Saudi-led coalition unleashed a series of air strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels and allied forces yesterday, the second straight day of an air campaign, as President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi arrived in Egypt for talks with Arab allies.
A months-long rebellion by Shia Houthi fighters has escalated into a regional conflict that threatens to tear apart the impoverished state at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.
Saudi Arabia has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to prevent Hadi’s fall.
The bombing yesterday targeted the Houthis’ military concentrations and supply routes between the northern and southern parts of the country, Ahmad Assiri, a spokesman for the Arab coalition, said.
Saudi Arabian Apaches hit the Shia rebels in their northern stronghold of Saada near the border with Saudi Arabia, Assairi added in a briefing in Riyadh.
According to him, allied jets destroyed the runway of the Houthi-held Anad air base, around 50km north of the southern port city of Aden.
“The coalition warplanes have a full control over the Yemeni airspace.”
Allied jets also attacked the rebel-held presidential palace in the southern part of the capital Sanaa and military facilities in the city manned by troops loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who seems to be allied with the Houthis.
As sounds of explosions could be heard across Sanaa, hundreds of families fled to safer areas.
Assairi called on civilians to shun areas where the Houthis are concentrated, accusing the rebels of holing up in residential areas.
Dozens of Houthi insurgents were meanwhile killed and wounded in a string of ambushes by pro-Hadi tribal fighters in Beihan in the southern province of Shabwa, tribal sources said.
The targeted Houthis had come from the central province of Baida and planned to move through Shabwa to the energy-oil province of Mareb in the east, Naser al-Kedm, a tribal leader in Shabwa told DPA.
There was no immediate comment from the Houthis.
The military operation, the first by Saudi Arabia in Yemen since 2009, sent oil prices jumping by around 5% on Thursday amid fears that the crude supplies from the region could be disrupted.
However, the prices fell yesterday, with Brent crude dropping by $1.18 to $57.99 per barrel.
Saudi Arabia and several Arab countries unleashed their military action in Yemen on Thursday after the Houthi fighters pushed into Aden where Hadi took refuge last month after fleeing Sanaa.
Saudi Arabia says more than 10 countries have joined the anti-Houthi coalition.
Reports said Saudi Arabia has deployed 100 warplanes, with another 67 coming from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly also mobilised 150,000 troops near the border.
The coalition said all members had contributed to the operation yesterday, with UAE warplanes “intensively” participating in the strikes.
In a boost for Saudi Arabia, Morocco said it would join the coalition against the Houthis. Pakistan, named by Saudi Arabia as a partner, said it had made no decision on whether to contribute.
Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen said the air campaign could end within days.
He said the door was still open for dialogue with the Houthis, while in a Facebook posting, Hadi urged Yemenis to be patient and predicted the Houthis would soon be gone.
But reports said the Houthis and allied army units seized the southern city of Shaqra in Abyan province yesterday, gaining access to the Arabian Sea.
Eyewitnesses in Sanaa said Houthi fighters and allied military units were re-positioning some anti-aircraft units at police stations in some neighbourhoods, causing panic among residents, who fear they will become targets for air strikes.
Minister in Riyadh meeting
HE the Minister of State for Defence Affairs Major-General Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah returned to Doha yesterday after a short visit to Riyadh. In Riyadh, al-Attiyah held talks with Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Mohamed bin Salman al-Saud. They discussed co-ordinating the participation of Qatari forces in Al Hazm storm operation led by Saudi Arabia. Al-Attiyah later visited the joint operations centre where he was briefed on the Al Hazm storm operation.
