SANAA (Yemen) • The Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen yesterday said it had launched air strikes on military sites of the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Sanaa and several other provinces, the Saudi's Al Arabiya news channel reported.
The coalition said its operation complied with international law. This comes after it said it had destroyed drones launched by the Houthis, including at least five fired towards Saudi Arabia.
Saudi state media reported the coalition as saying that the drones were aimed at "civilian sites", without giving locations.
The United States consulate in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah issued an advisory, citing reports of suspected attacks and explosions yesterday near Jeddah and the southern town of Khamis Mushait.
In the Houthi-held Yemeni capital Sanaa, a Reuters witness and two residents reported several air strikes. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV station said coalition warplanes conducted seven air raids.
There was no immediate confirmation from the coalition, which has in the past conducted air strikes on Houthi military sites in Sanaa in response to cross-border attacks.
Last Saturday, the coalition said it intercepted seven drones over 24 hours launched towards Khamis Mushait and one towards the southern Saudi city of Jazan.
The Houthis, who have been battling the coalition since it intervened in March 2015 in Yemen's civil war, recently stepped up cross-border missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia.
Fighting has also intensified on the ground in Yemen in Marib and Taiz regions.
The Houthis, who ousted the internationally recognised government from power in Sanaa in 2014, deny being puppets of Teheran and say they are fighting a corrupt system and foreign aggression.
The war, in a military stalemate for years, has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed Yemen to the brink of famine.
Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said Al-Thawra hospital in Taiz treated 28 people wounded in clashes since last Wednesday.
In Marib, the government's last northern stronghold, hundreds of fighters from both sides have been killed.
REUTERS
