Coalition Warplanes Control Yemen Airspace: Saudi Army

The Saudi army said Sunday that a coalition of Arab states – now launching strikes against the Shiite Houthi group in Yemen – totally controlled Yemen's airspace.



"We will ratchet up pressure on the Houthis in the days to come," Ahmed al-Asiri, a Saudi commander and the spokesperson of the coalition, said.



"Nowhere will be safe for the affiliates of this group," he added at the daily press briefing of the alliance.



Al-Asiri said alliance warplanes patrolled the airspace near the southern Yemeni city of Aden, noting that the warplanes would target Houthi militants near and inside the southern city.



He said alliance warplanes targeted arms depots and Houthi gatherings near Yemen's shared border with Saudi Arabia on Sunday.



He added that Houthis had stashed arms across Yemen in the months that followed what he described as the "coup" against incumbent President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi in February.



Having controlled capital Sanaa in September of 2014, the Houthis put the Yemeni President under house arrest in February of this year. They also dissolved parliament and formed a national assembly instead.



Several Arab states have joined the Saudi-led offensive, which kicked off late Wednesday with a string of airstrikes against the positions of the Houthi group in Yemen, including some in capital Sanaa.



Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to calls by Yemeni President ABD Rabbuh Mansour Hadi for military intervention to "save the people from the Houthi militias."



Some Gulf countries accuse Shiite Iran of supporting the Houthi insurgency.



Al-Asiri said the Houthis had signed a deal with a regional country to get arms supplies, noting that this regional country sent 14 planes full of arms to the Houthis every day.



"Major efforts are being made to determine the location of the depots were these arms are stored in preparation for targeting them," Al-Asiri said.



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