SANAA: Saudi-led warplanes struck rebel positions in Yemen on Sunday, witnesses said, a day after the kingdom’s air defences shot down a Scud missile fired from the war-torn country.
The attacks also came a day after the United Nations confirmed June 14 as the start date for peace talks between warring Yemen factions in Geneva, which both the country’s Shia Huthi rebels and its exiled government said they will attend.
Seven air raids targeted the Jumaineh military base, east of the capital Sanaa, according to witnesses. The base belongs to the elite Republican Guard that has remained loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has allied himself with the Huthis. Other raids hit an arms depot at the Nahdain hill, also south of Sanaa.
At least four pre-dawn air raids targeted the rebel-held headquarters of the armed forces in the centre of the capital, triggering explosions that damaged nearby buildings and forced residents to flee. Several rebel positions in the north, mainly in the Huthi stronghold Saada province and the provinces of Hajja and Amran, were heavily bombarded overnight by the coalition, witnesses said.
In the south, coalition jets targeted rebel positions on the northern and western outskirts of second city Aden in support of southern fighters backing exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Fighters from the southern Popular Resistance were attempting to prevent rebels from advancing towards the neighbourhoods of Al-Masnoura, Dar Saad, Sheikh Othman and Al-Buraiqa, according to a pro-Hadi military commander. “Several Huthi rebels and allies were killed or wounded,” said General Fadhl Baesh.
