Coalition strikes on Houthis rock Yemen capital

Saudi-led coalition warplanes bombed a militia-held military compound and camp in Yemen's capital on Wednesday, shaking nearby buildings and sending columns of flame shooting into the air.

Early dawn airstrikes hit the militia's First Armoured Brigade camp in Sanaa's northern district as well as a nearby compound.

Witness said both compounds had been used as arms depots by Iran-backed Houthi rebels and their allies, who overran Sanaa late last year.

Dozens of explosions rocked the capital early Wednesday, residents said.

A medical source gave Agence France-Presse an initial toll of three people killed and 11 wounded in the raids and subsequent explosions.

Other strikes hit arms depots and rebel positions in Hamdan, also in northern Sanaa, as well as a pro-Houthi militia’s military police camp and another army camp in the centre of the capital, residents said.

The Riyadh-led coalition, which began its air war on the Houthi militias in late March, also struck positions in Jawf, Saada, and Hajja provinces near the border with Saudi Arabia, as well as in third city Taez, and the southern province of Daleh.

The Houthi militias have allied with renegade troops still loyal to deposed president Ali Abdullah Saleh who ruled Yemen for three decades before stepping down in February 2012 after a year-long uprising.

(With AFP)