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(Al Arabia )Fighter jets of Saudi-led coalition forces pounded a Republican Guard camp in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa as Operation “Decisive Storm” continues for the second day targeting Houthi strongholds and their camps on Friday, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.
The offensive comes after powerful explosions rocked Sanaa Thursday night as the coalition forces carried out air strikes against the Shiite rebels who control Sanaa.
Witnesses said an air raid by the coalition forces targeted both Houthi members and supporters of the former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Al-Istiqbal military camp west of the capital.
The Republican Guard troops are believe to be still loyal to Saleh, who in spite of seceding power in 2011 after mass protests against his rule, is still highly influential in the military.
Some Yemenis also see Saleh, a fierce critic of President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi, as an instigator behind the expansion of the Shiite Muslim Houthi movement.
The witnesses also said that the coalition’s air raid also neutralized a military camp north of Sanaa, which reported back to Ahmed Ali Saleh, son of the former leader, who ruled Yemen for 33 years.
“Decisive Storm” also launched its air strikes south of Yemen where Houthis and their allies are trying to expand. They targeted al-Anad military camp, which the Houthis seized last Wednesday. (read more)
The White House has voiced support for the campaign against the Houthis. Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Washington Adel al-Jubeir announced the kingdom had launched a military operation involving air strikes in Yemen against Houthi fighters who have tightened their grip on the southern city of Aden where Hadi had taken refuge.
al Jubeir told reporters that a 10-country coalition had joined in the military campaign in a bid “to protect and defend the legitimate government” of Hadi.
“We will do whatever it takes in order to protect the legitimate government of Yemen from falling,” Jubeir said.
The U.S. has said it is coordinating closely with Saudi Arabia. (link)
(VIA TIME) Iran Calls Strikes “Dangerous Step” […] The airstrikes, which had the support of nine other countries, drew a strong reaction from Iran which called the operation an “invasion” and a “dangerous step” that will worsen the crisis in the country.
The back-and-forth between the regional heavyweights was threatening to turn impoverished Yemen into a proxy battle between the Middle East’s Sunni powers and Shiite-led Iran.
Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya News reported that the kingdom had deployed 100 fighter jets, 150,000 soldiers and other navy units.
The Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, were calling on their supporters to protest in the streets of Sanaa on Thursday afternoon, Yemen’s Houthi-controlled state news agency SABA reported. (more)