Saudi-led Yemen offensive targets Houthi militias, missiles: spokesman

The Saudi Arabia-led offensive in Yemen on Friday targeted Houthi militia movements and ballistic missile platforms, and multiple positions of the Iranian-backed rebels across the north and south of the country, a military spokesman said on Friday.

Operation “Decisive Storm,” led by Saudi and a coalition of regional allies against Iranian-backed Houthi militias who are attempting to oust Yemen’s internationally recognized government, had finished its second day.

Saudi warplanes targeted Houthi positions in both south and north of the country, with a focus on Houthi forces attempting to deploy along the Yemen-Saudi border, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported spokesman of the Saudi-led coalition forces Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri as saying.

Alliance forces also targeted all air defense armaments, including surface-to-air missiles systems, anti-aircraft artillery and ballistic missiles platforms, the spokesman - who was speaking at an airbase in the Saudi capital Riyadh - added.

Additionally, coalition fighter jets on Friday targeted the Houthi-controlled al-Anad airbase outside of the southern port city of Aden, the last main stronghold of Yemeni President Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

A bridge intensively used by the Houthi militias to transport supplies and portable ballistic missiles was also targeted, disclosing that the Houthi militias were trying to move their reinforcements between the northern Saada Province towards the capital Sanaa.

The Saudi-led coalition had maintained complete air supremacy, making Houthi forces vulnerable and allowing all movements on the ground to be monitored around the clock, said the spokesman.

UAE air force jets had also carried out a mission over Yemen on Friday, the spokesman said.

Due to the heavy volume of air strikes, the spokesman urged Yemeni civilians to keep away from the wide array of Houthi targets, including militia concentrations, convoys and logistics vehicles across the north and south of the country, adding that Houthi fighters may attempt to use civilians as human shields.

The operation would continue until it achieves its military goals - in particular the severing of Houthi logistics and supplies, the spokesman added.

On the same day, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, the minister of the national guard, visited the airbase and met with military officials.

Saudi National Guard Minister Mutaib bin Abdullah (AP)