Saudi-led coalition strikes as Houthis seize base

Houthi militias took over a military brigade in the central Yemeni city of Taiz early on Wednesday, triggering the Saudi-led coalition to carry out an airstrike shortly after the takeover.

The move came after Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced that it was ending a month-long campaign of air strikes - part of Operation Decisive Storm - against the Houthi militias who seized large areas of Yemen, and said it would back a political solution to bring peace to Yemen. But the kingdom added it would continue to take action against Houthis as needed and announced the beginning of a new follow-up campaign named “Operation Renewal of Hope.”

The headquarters of the 35th Armored Brigade on the Taiz’s northern outskirts fell after heavy fighting which left “dozens dead and wounded,” an officer told Agence France-Presse from inside the captured base.

The brigade had remained loyal to Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and its troops had resisted a nearly week-long siege by the Houthi militias and their allies.

A Yemen Red Crescent representative said its medical teams had been unable to access the area around the base “due to the intense fighting.”

A Saudi Arabia-led coalition had been waging Operation Decisive Storm against the Houthi coup in Yemen, in support of the internationally recognized president, Abdrabbu Mansour Hadi.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday he is glad that air strikes led by Saudi Arabia against the Houthi militia group in Yemen have been completed and achieved their targets.

"We are happy to see that the aerial operations on Yemen by Saudi Arabia have ended. Military goals appear to have been reached," Erdogan told a joint press conference with Iraqi President Fuad Masum. "We will continue to be on Yemen's side, whether in humanitarian or in other ways."

(With Reuters and AFP)