ADEN // Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen on Wednesday, launching an operation by a regional coalition to save the government of embattled president, Abdrabu Mansur Hadi, as the country teetered on the brink of civil war.
The air strikes were announced by the Saudi ambassador to the United States, with Washington saying that Barack Obama, the US president, has authorised the “provision of logistical and intelligence support” to the military operation.
The statement came as five GCC countries said they will answer Mr Hadi’s plea for intervention against the Shiite militia that has closed in on the city of Aden, where he took refuge after fleeing the capital Sanaa.
The UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain along with Saudi Arabia said they “have decided to answer the call of President Hadi to protect Yemen and his people from the aggression of the Houthi militia”.
Saudi envoy Adel Al Jubeir said in Washington that the operation “is to defend and support the legitimate government of Yemen and prevent the radical Houthi movement from taking over the country”.
Mr Al Jubeir said that for the moment the action was confined to air strikes on various targets around Yemen, but that other military assets were being mobilised and that the coalition “would do whatever it takes”.
Yemen in turmoil: Houthi rebels' recent advances - graphic
“The Royal Saudi Air Force has taken out the Houthi air defences and destroyed numerous Houthi fighter planes,” a Saudi adviser said, adding that air force “has pretty much secured most of the Yemeni air space and is now consolidating a wide no-fly zone.”
Military sources said rebel positions were hit at various locations in Sanaa, including at Al Daylami airbase and the adjacent international airport in north Sanaa, as well as the presidential complex seized by the rebels in January.
Explosions were heard in Sanaa as strikes hit the airbase at Sanaa airport and other locations in the capital, an AFP correspondent reported.
In the south, residents reported hearing large blasts at Al Anad main airbase, north of Aden, which was seized by anti-government forces Wednesday.
Rebels’ television station Al Massira aired an urgent call for medics in Sanaa to head to hospitals.
The Saudi adviser said his country’s defence minister has warned the son of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, “who is commanding the attack on Aden that his forces face ‘obliteration’ if they continue their push toward Aden.”
The former president, who resigned in 2012 following a year of nationwide protests, is accused of allying with the rebels, relying on the loyalty of many army units that he built during his three-decade rule.
Acting foreign minister, Riyad Yassin, had warned in Egypt that the fall of second city Aden would mean the “start of civil war” as he drummed up Arab military support for Mr Hadi.
His comments came Wednesday as army units switched allegiance to the rebels and seized Aden’s international airport.
Aides to the Yemen president said that he had been taken to a safe haven “within Aden”, where he fled last month.
Washington said it had been in touch with Mr Hadi and that he was no longer at his residence, but it was unable to say where he was.
Yemen has been gripped by growing turmoil since the Shiite Houthi rebels launched a power takeover in Sanaa in February.
* Agence France-Presse