Saudi-led airstrikes target Republican Guards base in Yemen's Hodeidah

Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-11 23:21:15|Editor: yan
Video PlayerClose

ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Warplanes of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition carried out airstrikes and targeted a base of Yemen's Republican Guards forces controlled by Houthis in the Red Sea coast city of Hodeidah on Tuesday.

A number of airstrikes targeted a base of the elite Republican Guards forces, causing huge blasts amid reports of casualties among the rebels, a military official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The official of the pro-government Giants Brigades said that "Houthi operations rooms located inside the base might be destroyed during the aerial bombardment."

There are no immediate reports about the exact number of casualties as Houthi rebels surrounded the bombing site and prevented local people from access.

The warplanes kept hovering over the city's airspace providing aerial support for the Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces advancing against Houthis in Hodeidah, according to the official.

Residents near the scene confirmed by phone saying that the base used by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels was hit several times in the previous hours and ambulances rushed to the targeted site.

Families were not able to flee their homes as both warring sides blocked main roads amid intense battles near residential areas, according to local citizens.

On Monday, government forces backed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) managed to cut supply lines linking Hodeidah with the Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa.

Offensives and counter-offensive attacks between the Yemeni warring rivals got momentum across the war-torn Arab country just days after announcing the failure of the Geneva negotiations sponsored by United Nations, leaving scores of people killed and injured.

The UN-sponsored talks between the Yemeni warring rivals failed Saturday after two days of delay because of the absence of a delegation representing the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, raising fears among Yemenis about the future of their country.

In recent days, the Yemeni government seeks to expel the Houthi rebels out of the strategic port city of Hodeidah militarily despite warnings issued by international humanitarian agencies.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia leads an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after Iran-backed Houthi rebels forced him into exile.

The United Nations has listed Yemen as the world's number one humanitarian crisis, with seven million Yemenis on the brink of famine and cholera causing more than 2,000 deaths.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011105521374612661