Coalition Planes Pound Houthi Positions İn Yemen's Sanaa

An Arab air coalition led by Saudi Arabia on Saturday pounded positions in Sanaa held by the Shia Houthi militant group and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, according to witnesses.



The Al-Nahdain mountain camp, which overlooks Sanaa's presidential palace and is currently held by the Houthis and their allies, was struck several times by coalition airstrikes, witnesses said.



Following the strikes, witnesses said they heard several explosions emanating from the camp, the causes of which remain unclear -- as does the death toll among the Houthis and their allies.



Coalition warplanes also targeted two sites in Sanaa's Al-Khamseen region on Saturday, after which witnesses said plumes of smoke could be seen billowing from the area.



Recent days have seen coalition warplanes strike the same sites -- along with other positions in and around Yemen's capital -- several times.



Last September, the Houthis stunned observers when they routed government forces and overran capital Sanaa.



In April, they struck southward, seizing Yemen's coastal Aden province and forcing President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi -- along with most of his government -- to flee to Saudi Arabia.



Over the course of the last month, however, pro-Hadi forces -- backed by Saudi-led air power -- appear to have retaken most of Aden, to which some Yemeni government officials have reportedly returned.



Hadi himself has yet to return to the war-torn country, however, and Sanaa remains in control of the Houthis and their pro-Saleh allies.



Nearly 2,000 Yemeni civilians have been killed to date in the fighting between the two sides, according to UN figures. - Yemen