SANAA
Saudi-led coalition warplanes have pounded Houthi sites in the eastern Yemeni province of Maarib, eyewitnesses said Sunday.
The airstrikes targeted the government complex and a gathering of Houthi militants in the local market in Sirwah directorate in Maarib province, the witnesses told The Anadolu Agency.
2 Houthis, 10 tribesmen killed in clashes
At least 22 Shiite Houthi tribesmen and ten armed tribesmen were killed in clashes on Sunday in the eastern Yemeni province of Maarib, tribal sources have said.
According to the sources, tribesmen backed by army troops loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi had clashed with Houthi militants in Maarib's Sirwah directorate.
At least 22 Houthis were killed and many others were captured in the clashes the sources, requesting anonymity, told The Anadolu Agency.
Ten tribesmen were also killed in the fighting, they added.
Earlier in the day, eyewitnesses told AA that Saudi-led coalition warplanes had pounded a Houthi-controlled government complex and Houthi militants in the local market in Sirwah, leaving dozens of Houthi militants dead or injured.
Since March 25, Saudi Arabia and several Arab allies have been pounding Houthi positions across Yemen.
Riyadh says its anti-Houthi campaign comes in response to appeals by embattled President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention against Houthis.
The Houthis, for their part, have described the offensive as unwarranted "Saudi-American aggression" against Yemen.
Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when the Houthis overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence farther afield.
Some Gulf States accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.
