Sana’a: Dozens of Saudi-led air strikes rocked Yemen’s capital on Wednesday, targeting a sprawling police commando camp in Sana’a and sending black smoke billowing into the air. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the bombings, which panicked residents in the early morning hours.
The air strikes are part of a Saudi-led military operation that began March 26 to target militiamen known as Al Houthis along with army units loyal to ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The two groups are allied and occupy the capital and much of the north.
The strikes targeted the camp, which occupies a large part of central Sana’a and is located close to the presidential palace.
An Associated Press reporter saw ambulances rushing to the scene and thick black smoke covering the whole area, obstructing visibility. Blocks away from the camp, administrative buildings and shops suffered damage, with metal shutters twisted off their frames, windows broken and doors blown off their hinges. Streets littered with shattered glass, toppled street lights and overturned cars.
Many of Sana’a’s residents sought shelter in basements and shops were closed, while city streets were deserted.
Witnesses say planes also bombed a naval base in western Hodeida controlled by Al Houthis. Saudi and allied jets also bombed the northern Al Houthi srongholds of Sa’ada and Hajjah.
The UN estimates that at least 1,037 civilians, including 130 women and 234 children, have been killed in the fighting.
The campaign of air strikes has devastated Al Houthi positions, ammunition depots and bases, but it has yet to recapture of the strategic southern city of Aden. The internationally-recognized president of Yemen, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, declared Aden the country’s temporarily capital before fleeing to Saudi Arabia.
Hadi’s allied southern fighters managed on Tuesday to recapture the strategic city of Dhale, located near Aden.
