Strikes pound Houthi targets in Yemen’s Shabwa

Arab coalition airstrikes targeted Shabwa province in southern Yemen on Sunday, where clashes between Houthi militias and armed tribes took place.

The strikes, part of a Saudi-led air campaign dubbed "Operation Decisive Storm," hit the Beihan area in the Shabwa governorate.

Saudi-led airstrikes also struck military targets and weapons depots controlled by Houthi rebels in the Yemeni city of Saada on Sunday, where members of the militia released hundreds of convicted criminals and took control of the Kahlan military camp, Al Arabiya News Channel reported.

Meanwhile, Houthi militants reportedly released 1,800 inmates in Saada and attempted to release prisoners held in Yemen’s central prison and facilities in other cities, the news channel added.

In the hours before the anti-Houthi coalition struck the Kahlan camp, the militia appointed one of its own as head of the camp who was tasked with transferring the weapons outside the facility.

There were also reports on clashes in the city of Aden.

Air strikes by the 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, urging Yemeni civilians “to stay away from Houthis’ gatherings and their arms stores.”