Saudi-led strikes destroy 'most' Houthi missiles

Air strikes by Saudi-led forces have eliminated most of the ballistic missiles which Houthi fighters captured from Yemen's army, a Saudi military officer said on Saturday.

“We believe we destroyed most of these capabilities," spokesman for the coalition Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri told a news conference in Riyadh.

He also said Houthi militias were no longer in possession of “any jet fighter or any command and control over any airbase or outside the airbases in Yemen,” according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

Asiri told reporters in Riyadh that Operation “Decisive Storm,” launched earlier this week against the Iranian-backed militia, would continue to target missile platforms belonging to the Houthi group.

During the news conference, he displayed a number of video slides showing several of the sites targeted by the alliance forces and noted that no citizens were harmed in the fighting.

He noted that the Houthis were continuing to mobilize toward the Saudi borders and said Apache helicopters belonging to the coalition had struck positions to prevent a buildup of the Shiite fighters.

“The Saudi military will not allow a buildup on the borders,” he said.

He also accused the Houthis of firing mortar bombs on civilian homes as well as fortifying themselves in populated areas.

Asiri was quoted by the SPA as saying that the militias were using residential homes “as hideouts and stores for their equipment, and sometimes installing anti-aircraft equipment on top of civilian buildings to attract the alliance to bombard them and commit killing of innocents.”

The military spokesman urged Yemeni civilians “to stay away from Houthis’ gatherings and their arms stores.”

He stressed that the Saudi-led coalition avoided targeting civilian areas and did not aim to damage the country’s infrastructure.