Raids on Yemen Capital Spark Blasts
Smoke rises on Monday after a Saudi-led airstrike hit a site where many believe the largest weapons cache in Sanaa is located. Powerful explosions rocked the Yemeni capital early Monday morning amid the strike, shattering windows and waking residents up. (AP Photo/Hani Mohammed)
SANAA: Saudi-led air strikes on a missile depot in Yemen’s rebel-held capital Monday sparked explosions.
A coalition of Arab nations led by Saudi Arabia launched the air campaign against the Houthi Shiite rebels last month, vowing to restore the authority of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who fled to Riyadh as the militiamen advanced on his southern refuge of Aden.
Riyadh has accused Iran, the main Shiite power, of backing the rebels and fears a Tehran-friendly regime taking control of the country on its southern border.
Monday’s strikes triggered a series of blasts that sent shockwaves across Sanaa..
Civilians were seen emerging from their shattered homes in the aftermath, some carrying suitcases and apparently stunned at the scale of the destruction outside.
The targeted base belongs to the missile brigade of the elite Republican Guard, which remained loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh who has been accused of siding with the Houthi rebels in their fight against the government.
The Houthis have seized control of large parts of the Arabian Peninsula nation, including Sanaa, and fought fierce battles with pro-government forces.
The Saudi-led coalition says it has carried out more than 2,000 strikes since the start of the campaign, gaining complete control of Yemeni airspace and knocking out rebel infrastructure.
But its spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri, gave no comment about Monday’s blasts in Sanaa during his daily media briefing.
Fighting continued in the south between advancing rebels and local fighters who have sided with Hadi.
Eleven rebels and five southern fighters were killed in Huta, the provincial capital of Lahj, the military said.
Calls have been growing for peace talks, but authorities on Monday rejected an Iranian offer of mediation.
“Any mediation effort coming from Iran is unacceptable because Iran is involved in the Yemen issue,” said Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin.
“The Houthis and Saleh forces must withdraw from all cities and villages of Yemen, including Sanaa and Aden, return to (their northern stronghold of) Saada as civilians, and lay down their arms,” he said.
“After that we can talk about dialogue and a political solution. But now there is no room for negotiations.”
The exiled authorities was boosted Sunday when the commanders of 25,000 troops in Hadramawt province, the country’s largest and on the border with Saudi Arabia, expressed their support for Hadi and his “constitutional legitimacy.”
But in what will be seen as another welcome sign for Hadi, Saleh — forced out after a 2011 Arab Spring-inspired uprising — on Sunday welcomed the resolution as a “positive” step, with his party backing calls for a cease-fire and UN-mediated talks.
Yemen has long struggled with deep tribal divisions and an insurgency by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), considered by Washington as the jihadist network’s most dangerous branch.
Al-Qaeda militants have taken advantage of the chaos to seize territory including an army camp in Hadramawt, an airport and provincial capital Mukalla.
On Monday, a US drone killed five Al-Qaeda suspects in a raid that struck two vehicles in Saeed, in Shabwa province.