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Bombing continues, Arab leaders urge Yemen's Houthis to withdraw from capital

30 March 2015 04:24 (UTC +04:00)

The Saudi-led coalition continued on Sunday to rain bombs on key military targets of Yemen's Shiite Houthi group as the Arab leaders urged the militants to withdraw from capital Sanaa that has been under their control since last September.

Military sources told Xinhua that the airstrikes targeted missile bases in al-Subaha area on Aser mountain in southwestern Sanaa, reserve forces camps on the mountains of Faj Attan, Aser, al-Sawad and Nokum, and the al-Dailamy air force base in northern Sanaa.

Sounds of warplanes could be heard across the capital while the Houthi fighters repelled the fighter jets by intensified anti-aircraft artillery.

The Houthi-controlled interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday that air raids overnight Saturday on military targets in Sanaa killed four soldiers and injured 33 others.

It also said that airstrikes pounded several Houthi posts in the northern province of Saada, the main stronghold of the Shiite group, killing one Houthi fighter and injured seven others, while in the northwestern province of Hajja that borders Saudi Arabia, the airstrikes killed nine and wounded 28.

Four nights of air raids have left 35 people killed and 88 others injured, the health ministry said in statement on Sunday.

It also said the air raids destroyed the air force base at the western port city of al-Hodayda.

The coalition's air campaign, orchestrated by Riyadh, has been launched to display support for Yemeni President Abd Rabbou Mansour Hadi, who has been force by the Houthis to flee his country to Saudi Arabia.

The Houthis, the Zaidi branch of Shiite Islam, said their actions are to battle against the expansion of Salafism in Yemen, and for the defense of their Shiite community from widespread and systematic discrimination from Hadi's government. In turn, Sanaa accused the militant of intending to overthrow the government to build a Shiite country.

Saudi Arabia has also charged Iran of trying to have a bigger say in the region by financing and arming the Houthi group, while both Tehran and the Shiite group have refuted the claims.

Also on Sunday, the fight in Yemen's southern port city of Aden, Hadi's last stronghold in the country, continued to rage. Pro-Hadi military units said they have retaken Aden's airport from the Houthis in a fight that lasted all night.

URGE TO WITHDRAW

Leaders of the Arab League (AL) member states gathered over the weekend in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh. The fleeing Yemeni President Hadi also showed up at the meeting to ask Arab nations to support his government and to crush the Houthi group.

In a final declaration issued on Sunda, the AL members called for immediate withdrawal of Houthi fighters from the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

They also urged the Houthis to pull away from governmental institutions, and hand over their arms to legitimate authorities.

The AL Secretary General Nabil Al-Araby said the Saudi Arabia-led military campaign against the Shiite Houthi rebels will continue until they end their military actions and surrender their weapons.