AFP – 27 March 2015 – Arab coalition warplanes bombed rebel camps in Yemen on Friday in a second straight day of strikes led by Saudi Arabia, which accused Iran of “aggression” across the region.
A months-long rebellion by Shiite fighters has escalated into a regional conflict.
Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to prevent the fall of its ally President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, accusing Shiite Iran of backing the Huthi rebels’ power grab.
Three dawn strikes Friday hit the presidential compound in south Sanaa which the rebels seized last month, witnesses said.
Warplanes also bombed a Huthi-controlled army brigade in Amran province, north of the capital, and arms depots in the northern rebel stronghold of Saada, residents said.
Hadi, backed by the West and Gulf Arab states, arrived in Riyadh on Thursday with officials saying he was on his way to Egypt to take part in a two-day Arab League summit at the weekend.
Saudi Arabia says more than 10 countries, including four other Gulf monarchies, have joined the anti-Huthi coalition.
An anti-aircraft missile wounded eight people, one of them seriously, when it exploded in a market in Sanaa on Friday, a day after it was fired by Huthi fighters, a security official said.
The Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television said the kingdom had deployed 100 fighter jets to the operation, while the United Arab Emirates had committed 30, Kuwait 15 each and Qatar 10. Bahrain said it had committed 12 fighters.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly also mobilised 150,000 troops near the border.
The White House voiced concern about “reports of Iranian flow of arms into Yemen”, while Riyadh lashed out at Tehran.
“The Iranians are the ones who are meddling in the affairs of the Arab countries whether it’s in Lebanon, in Syria, in Iraq… in Yemen,” the kingdom’s ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, told Fox News.
“We have to deal with Iran’s aggression in the region. We’re dealing with their support of the Huthis and the Huthis’ attempt to take over in Yemen,” he added.
Former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh, 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.
Riyadh said it was boosting security on its borders and across the oil-flush kingdom.
Washington said President Barack Obama had authorized the “provision of logistical and intelligence support” for the campaign, while Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Sudan said they were joining it.
Pakistan said it was ready to defend Saudi Arabia’s “territorial integrity.”.