Aden: Saudi Arabia carried out air strikes against Huthi rebels in Yemen on Wednesday, launching an operation by a regional coalition to save the government of embattled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as the country teetered on the brink of civil war. The airstrikes were announced by the Saudi ambassador to the United States, with Washington saying that President Barack Obama has authorised the "provision of logistical and intelligence support" to the military operation.
The statement came as five Gulf states said they will answer Hadi's plea for intervention against the Shiite militia that has closed in on the city of Aden, where he took refuge after fleeing the capital Sanaa. 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".
Saudi envoy Adel al-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".
Al-Jubeir 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 advisor said, adding that airforce "has pretty much secured most of the Yemeni air space and is now consolidating a wide no-fly zone."
Military sources said rebel positions were hit at various locations in Sanaa, including at al-Daylami airbase and the adjacent international airport in north Sanaa, as well as the presidential complex seized by the rebels in January.
Huge explosions were heard in Sanaa as strikes hit the airbase at Sanaa airport and other locations in the capital, an AFP correspondent reported. In the south, residents reported hearing large blasts at Al-Anad main airbase, north of Aden, which was seized by anti-government forces Wednesday. Rebels' television station Al-Massira aired an urgent call for medics in Sanaa to head to hospitals.
The Saudi advisor said his country's defence minister has 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."
The former president, who resigned in 2012 following a year of nationwide protests, is accused of allying with the rebels, relying on the loyalty of many army units that he built during his three-decade rule.
Acting foreign minister Riyad Yassin had warned in Egypt that the fall of second city Aden would mean the "start of civil war" as he drummed up Arab military support for Hadi. His comments came Wednesday as army units switched allegiance to the rebels and seized Aden's international airport. Aides to Hadi said that the Western-backed president had been taken to a safe haven "within Aden", where he fled last month.
