ANKARA
Saudi Arabian-led coalition airplanes launched intense airstrikes early Monday morning on military sites used by Shia Houthi militants and forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency’s reporter that the planes launched 10 air raids against the al-Nahdayn and Dar al-Reasa military camps in Sanaa.
The planes are still flying over Sanaa in the face of anti-aircraft missiles from the Houthi and pro-Saleh forces, eyewitnesses said.
In the western city of al-Hadeeda, fierce explosions followed coalition air raids on military sites controlled by armed Houthis, according to eyewitnesses.
They added that the raids also targeted sites used by the Yemeni Air Force at al-Hadeeda Airport. The damage caused is still uncertain.
The pro-Hadi Popular Resistance Committees threw a hand grenade at a Houthi base in the al-Rabsa neighborhood in al-Hadeeda city.
Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was elected president of Yemen in 2012, before being ousted by the Houthis last September.
He succeeded Saleh after the latter was overthrown during the course of the Arab Spring.
Fractious Yemen has remained in turmoil since last September, when Houthi militants overran Sanaa from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country.
On March 25, Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies began an extensive air campaign targeting Houthi positions across the country.
Riyadh says its campaign comes in response to appeals by Hadi for military intervention against the Houthis.
The Houthis, however, denounce the offensive as unwarranted “Saudi-American aggression” against Yemen.
