Al Mukalla: The Saudi-led Arab coalition launched heavy air raids on Al Houthi-held military camps across Yemen, killing dozens of the rebel fighters, local media reports and officials said on Saturday.
The heaviest air strikes occurred in the western city of Hodeida where the coalition’s aircrafts targeted Special Security and Air Defence camps, according to Al Masdar Online, an independent news site.
Since the beginning of the Saudi-led military coalition operation in Yemen in March last year, intensive air strikes have helped the government maintain the upperhand in fighting.
They have advanced on many frontlines including the Nehim district approximately 35km from Al Houthi-occupied Sana’a.
In the southern city of Taiz, residents said coalition strikes helped stem an Al Houthi advance into the western suburbs of the city.
In Marib, coalition strikes in the Serwah district targeted a gathering of Al Houthi fighters.
News outlets affiliated to the Iran-backed Al Houthis confirmed the death of Hassan Al Moulsi, a colonel loyal to ousted Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
Saleh allied himself with the Al Houthi movement after popular protests removed him from power in 2011 and has been working to destablise the internationally-recognised government of Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi.
Meanwhile, Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmad Bin Daghar said Al Houthis have refused to comply with the government decision to shift the central bank headquarters from Sana’a to Aden.
The bank is continuing to deposit its tax and customs revenue with the bank’s office in Sana’a.
Last week, Hadi sacked Mohammad Bin Humam, the former governor of the central bank and relocated the bank’s headquarter to Aden.
Yemeni economists believe Al Houthis are still tapping billions of Yemeni riyals in revenue from the Hodeida seaport and taxes on oil.
