SANAA
A Saudi Arabia-led coalition on Thursday carried out a fresh round of airstrikes targeting sites held by the Shiite Houthi group in three strategic areas of Yemen.
Local residents told The Anadolu Agency that smoke could be seen billowing into the air following coalition airstrikes targeting Houthi positions in the Saada province, a Houthi stronghold.
Residents of the coastal Aden province, for their part, told AA that coalition warplanes had struck several Houthi positions in the province's city of Crater.
In the eastern oil-rich Maarib province, meanwhile, eyewitnesses said coalition warplanes had destroyed a number of rocket launch-pads in five airstrikes targeting an air-defense camp near the strategic Safer oilfield.
Yemen has been rocked by turmoil since Shiite Houthi militants overran capital Sanaa last September, from which they have since advanced on other provinces.
On March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive air campaign against Houthi positions across Yemen.
Riyadh says its anti-Houthi campaign is in response to appeals by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi – currently in Riyadh – for help against the Shiite militia.
The Houthis, for their part, denounce the ongoing offensive as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" on Yemen.
