Saudi Arabia launches strikes on Yemen rebels
ADEN: Saudi warplanes bombed Huthi rebels in Yemen yesterday, launching a military intervention by a 10-nation coalition to prevent the fall of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
The rebels and their allies within the armed forces had been closing in on main southern city Aden where Hadi has been holed up since fleeing the rebel- controlled capital Sanaa last month.
The advance had raised fears in Saudi Arabia that the Shiite minority rebels would seize control of the whole of its Sunni-majority neighbour and take it into the orbit of regional rival Iran.
The Saudi ambassador to the United States said that the operation had begun with air strikes but that the coalition stood ready to do ‘whatever it takes’ to protect Hadi’s government.
Huge explosions were heard in Sanaa as warplanes pounded the air base adjacent to the international airport and other locations, an AFP correspondent reported.
At least 13 civilians were killed when seven homes near the air base were hit, a civil defence source said.
In the south, residents reported hearing explosions at the huge AlAnad air base, north of Aden, which was seized by anti- government
The operation is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Huthi movement from taking over the country.
forces on Wednesday.
Saudi ambassador Adel alJubeir said that the kingdom had assembled a coalition of more than 10 countries, including five Gulf monarchies, for the military operation to defend Hadi’s government.
Washington said President Barack Obama had authorised the “provision of logistical and intelligence support” for the campaign.
Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE along with Saudi Arabia said they “have decided to answer the call of President Hadi to protect Yemen and his people from the aggression of the ( Shiite) Huthi militia”.
Jubeir told reporters in Washington that the operation “is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Huthi movement from taking over the country”.
He said that for the moment the action was confined to air strikes on various targets around Yemen, but that other military assets were being mobilised and that the coalition ‘would do whatever it takes’.
“The Royal Saudi Air Force has taken out the Huthi air defences and destroyed numerous Huthi fighter planes,” a Saudi adviser said, adding that air force “has pretty much secured most of the Yemeni air space and is now consolidating a wide no-fly zone.”
The official Saudi Press Agency said Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan had all “expressed desire to participate in the operation”.
Both Egypt and Jordan confirmed that they were joining the Saudi-led operation.
Egypt said it stood ready to provide ground troops if necessary.
“Coordination is under way with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to prepare for participation by the Egyptian air force and Egyptian navy, and a ground force if the situation warrants, as part of the coalition action,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Military sources said the raids had hit rebel positions at various locations in Sanaa, including at alDaylami airbase and the adjacent international airport in north Sanaa, as well as the presidential palace complex seized by the rebels in January.
The rebels’ television station Al-Massira aired an urgent call for medics in Sanaa to head to hospitals.
The Saudi adviser said his country’s defence minister warned the son of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, “who is commanding the attack on Aden that his forces face ‘obliteration’ if they continue their push toward Aden.” — AFP
Adel al-Jubeir, Saudi ambassador