SANAA, Yemen (AP) Apr. 1, 2015 — Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed Shiite rebel positions in both north and south Yemen early Wednesday, setting off explosions and drawing return fire from anti-aircraft guns.
The bombings came as the Saudi-led campaign against Yemen’s Shiite rebels known as Houthis entered its seventh day. The campaign aims to weaken the Iran-backed rebels who are also allied with forces loyal to Yemen’s deposed president, Ali Abdullah Saleh and halt their power grab.
Since their advance began last year, the Houthis have overrun the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, and several provinces, and have forced the current president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, to flee abroad from the southern port city of Aden.
Wednesday’s airstrikes targeted rebel-controlled army camps in the Red Sea port city of Hodeida and a factory where two military officials said the factory had been used as a rebel weapons cache, and that while the airstrikes flattened the warehouses, the main factory building was only partially destroyed — suggesting it might have been hit from ground. Anti-aircraft guns returned fire.
Critics of the Houthis charge that they are an Iranian proxy — a claim the rebels deny. Iran has provided aid to the rebels, but both Tehran and the Houthis deny it has armed them.