Saudi-led coalition strikes IRGC targets in Yemen's Sanaa

Raids launched on Iran-backed Houthi military targets in the Yemeni capital

The Saudi-led coalition says it has launched air raids on Houthi military targets in Sanaa. Reuters

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said on Tuesday that its jets had carried out strikes on “legitimate” military sites used by experts from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in and around Sanaa International Airport and at other military sites in the city.

“The coalition launched three air strikes that targeted Sanaa airport and the former Armoured Division military base in northern Sanaa,” Al Masirah TV, run by the Iran-backed Houthi militants, reported.

The coalition asked civilians not to gather around or approach potential targets.

The raids are among several the coalition has carried out this month over the densely populated capital city of Sanaa.

The Houthis claim that they have turned the former Armoured Division military base into a public park.

Residents of Sanaa, controlled by the militants, said they heard big explosions at several sites to the north of the capital.

“Early in the morning, we heard three explosions in the Al Dailami air base, which shares the same runway with the Sanaa International Airport,” a resident in northern Sanaa said.

“The base is still used by the military. It hasn’t been opened as a park for the residents.”

The intensified raids by the coalition against military targets in Sanaa has led the Houthis to increase their security measures across the capital.

They set up new checkpoints and sent more new security units to area around the airport, the resident said.

Earlier this week, the coalition said it had seen Houthi hostile activities at the airport.

It announced on Sunday that its jets had carried out air strikes on 15 Houthi targets in provinces of Marib and Al Jawf in northern Yemen.

They destroyed more than nine Houthi military vehicles and killed more than 110 Houthi fighters.

This comes as Houthi militants press on with an operation they launched in oil-rich Marib in February.