Air strikes rock Yemeni capital

SANAA: Powerful explosions shook the Yemeni capital on Sunday, witnesses said, after the Saudi-led coalition vowed to press its air war following a rebel missile strike that killed dozens of Gulf soldiers.
The United Arab Emirates had pledged to quickly avenge its heaviest ever military loss after 45 of its soldiers were killed in Friday’s missile attack, along with 10 Saudis and five Bahrainis.
The UAE is part of the Arab coalition formed in March aimed at stopping the Iran-backed rebels from taking full control of Yemen and at restoring rule of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.
Complaining of marginalisation, the Huthi rebels descended from their northern stronghold last year and seized the capital Sanaa unopposed before advancing on second city Aden in March.
The latest coalition raids pounded positions of the rebels and renegade troops loyal to ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was forced to resign in 2012 following a bloody uprising.
Coalition warplanes struck military bases on the Nahdain and Fajj Attan hills and the neighbouring presidential complex, south of Sanaa, as well as a headquarters for Special Forces.
Also targeted were Huthi positions in the northern neighbourhoods of Sufan and Al-Nahda, forcing scores of residents to flee, the witnesses said. Witnesses said Sunday’s bombardment was one of the heaviest since the air campaign began.
“The first strike after dawn prayers shook our house,” said Sadeq al-Juhayfi, a resident of Al-Haffa, southeast of Sanaa, where a military base was targeted.
Witnesses in the area said explosions were still heard around midday at the base, suggesting it housed an arms depot.
Meanwhile, normally bustling areas of the capital remained empty and shops were mostly shuttered.
Students taking exams at Abdulrazzaq al-Sanaani high school, in Hadda neighbourhood, said they abandoned their tests and fled.
“We usually get hundreds of customers... Today, workers have ran away and there are no people in the street,” said Kamal al-Majidi, a waiter at a restaurant in Hadda.
The Huthis said Friday’s missile attack was “revenge” for six months of deadly air raids, but the coalition vowed there would be no let-up in its air war.
For the UAE, Friday’s losses were the heaviest since the formation of the federation in 1971, and the oil-rich Gulf state has vowed to retaliate.
“Our revenge shall not take long,” warned Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.
“We will press ahead until we purge Yemen of the scum,” he was quoted as saying in Emirati media.