Coalition forces airdrop weapons to vigilantes in Yemen's Aden

ADEN, Yemen

Saudi-led coalition forces have airdropped weapons to local vigilantes loyal to Yemen's embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a vigilante source has said.

"Coalition warplanes airdropped different types of weapons and communication devices to vigilantes in [the southern Aden city]," the source told The Anadolu Agency.

No further details were available.

Coalition forces have not confirmed the report.

The move comes as forces loyal to the Shiite Houthi militant group have retreated from the presidential palace in Aden following dawn strikes by Saudi-led warplanes.

For the past eight days, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have been pounding Houthi positions across Yemen.

Riyadh says its anti-Houthi campaign comes in response to Hadi's appeals to "save the [Yemeni] people from the Houthi militias."

Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they have since sought to extend their influence to other parts of the fractious country.

Some Gulf States accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.